Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities in Community (APAC) Study in China Objectives, Design and Baseline Characteristics.docVIP

Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities in Community (APAC) Study in China: Objectives, Design and Baseline Characteristics , Jie Xu , Anxing Wang , Xiang Gao , Shouling Wu , Wen Bin Wei , Yong Zhou1?, Yang Li2?, Liang Xu3 2 1 4,5 6* 2* Xingquan Zhao , Jost B. Jonas 1* 3,7 1 Department of Neurology, BeijingTianTan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, 2 Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Science Key Laboratory, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, 3 Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, 4 Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 5 Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 6 Department of Cardiology, Kailuan Hospital, Hebei United University, Tangshan, China, 7 Department of Ophthalmology, Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Ruprecht- Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany Abstract Objective: The population-based “Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities in Community (APAC) Study was designed to examine prevalence and associations of asymptomatic polyvascular abnormalities (APA) in a general population. In this report, the objectives, design and baseline data of the APAC study are described. Methods: The study included 5,440 participants (40.1% women) with an age of 40+ years who were randomly selected from the population of the Kailuan Study which included 101,510 employees and retirees of the Kailuan Co. Ltd, a large coal mine industry located in Tangshan, Hebei, China. E