Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
BMJ Open. 2021 Jul 5;11(7):e053342. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053342.
The current framework for investigating respiratory diseases is based on defining lung health as the absence of lung disease. In order to develop a comprehensive approach to prevent the development of lung disease, there is a need to evaluate the full spectrum of lung health spanning from ideal to impaired lung health. The American Lung Association (ALA) Lung Health Cohort is a new, population-based, cohort study focused primarily on characterising lung health in members of the millennial generation without diagnosed severe respiratory disease. Participants will be enrolled for the baseline study visit starting in 2021, and funding will be sought to support future study exams as part of a longitudinal cohort study. This study will be crucial for developing a novel paradigm of lung health throughout the adult life course.
This study will leverage the existing infrastructure of the ALA Airways Clinical Research Centers network to enrol 4000 participants between ages 25 and 35 years old at 39 sites across the USA between April 2021 and December 2024. Study procedures will include physical assessment, spirometry, chest CT scan, accelerometry and collection of nasal epithelial lining fluid, nasal epithelial cells, blood and urine. Participants will complete questionnaires about their sociodemographic characteristics, home address histories and exposures, work history and exposure, medical histories, lung health and health behaviours and activity.
The study was approved by the Johns Hopkins Medicine Institutional Review Board. Findings will be disseminated to the scientific community through peer-reviewed journals and at professional conferences. The lay public will receive scientific findings directly through the ALA infrastructure including the official public website. Deidentified datasets will be deposited to BioLINCC, and deidentified biospecimens may be made available to qualified investigators along with a limited-use datasets.
目前，研究呼吸系统疾病的框架基于将肺部健康定义为没有肺部疾病。为了制定一种全面的方法来预防肺部疾病的发生，有必要评估从理想肺部健康到受损肺部健康的整个肺部健康谱。美国肺脏协会（ALA）肺部健康队列是一项新的、基于人群的队列研究，主要侧重于描述千禧一代中没有诊断出严重呼吸道疾病的个体的肺部健康状况。参与者将从 2021 年开始参加基线研究访问，并将寻求资金支持未来的研究检查，作为纵向队列研究的一部分。这项研究对于在整个成年期发展肺部健康的新范式至关重要。
本研究将利用 ALA Airways 临床研究中心网络的现有基础设施，在 2021 年 4 月至 2024 年 12 月期间，在美国 39 个地点招募年龄在 25 岁至 35 岁之间的 4000 名参与者。研究程序将包括身体评估、肺活量测定、胸部 CT 扫描、加速度计和鼻上皮衬里液、鼻上皮细胞、血液和尿液的采集。参与者将完成关于其社会人口特征、家庭住址史和暴露史、工作史和暴露史、病史、肺部健康和健康行为和活动的问卷。
该研究已获得约翰霍普金斯大学医学伦理审查委员会的批准。研究结果将通过同行评议期刊和专业会议向科学界传播。普通公众将通过 ALA 基础设施直接接收科学发现，包括官方公共网站。匿名数据集将被存入 BioLINCC，经过鉴定的生物标本可根据需要提供给合格的研究人员，并提供有限用途的数据集。
