The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium

Conditions

All-cause Mortality, Cardiovascular Disease

Keywords

Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Risk Factor Modification, Global, Lifetime Gain, Lifetime estimates, Projected risk reductions, Lifetime difference, Implementation strategies

Brief summary

The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium (GCVRC) brings together harmonized individual-level data from currently more than 2 million (anticipated: approximately 3 million) individuals across 133 cohorts, 40 countries, and 6 continents, with recruitment ongoing. The GCVRC examines the impact of classical cardiovascular risk factors-such as body-mass index, systolic blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, current smoking, and diabetes-on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death from any cause worldwide.

Detailed description

A small number of modifiable risk factors accounts for a significant proportion of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, the CVD burden attributable to classical risk factors depends on the populations studied and the methodologies used. The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium (GCVRC) is an international collaboration that continuously includes cohort studies from around the world to improve cardiovascular risk prediction. The GCVRC uses extensively harmonized individual-level data from currently more than 2 million individuals from 133 cohorts, 40 countries and 6 continents categorized in 8 geographical regions (based on a modification of WHO and United Nations definitions) - North America, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia, Asia, and Australia. The consortium has a special focus on classical, potentially modifiable cardiovascular risk factors: body-mass index, systolic blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, current smoking, and diabetes. Key research questions include examining the impact of these factors on major outcomes by geographical region and sex, as well as estimating associated lifetime risk and the potential lifetime difference when modifying these risk factors. This work is critical for developing regionally tailored CVD prevention and treatment strategies, identifying residual risk, and improving global cardiovascular health. Based on GCVRC data, a paper on the effect of classical risk factors on new-onset CVD and all-cause mortality was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2023 (doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2206916), followed by a study evaluating the effect of classical risk factors on different lifetime estimates, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025 (doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2415879). Further studies evaluate the effect of projecting risk factor reductions on CVD and all-cause mortality at the population level.

Christina Magnussen

New England Journal of Medicine2025-03-3058 citations

10.1056/nejmoa2415879

Global Effect of Modifiable Risk Factors on Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality.

Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium, Magnussen C, Ojeda FM, Leong DP, Alegre-Diaz J, Amouyel P, Aviles-Santa L, De Bacquer D, Ballantyne CM, Bernabé-Ortiz A, Bobak M, Brenner H, Carrillo-Larco RM, de Lemos J, Dobson A, Dörr M, Donfrancesco C, Drygas W, Dullaart RP, Engström G, Ferrario MM, Ferrières J, de Gaetano G, Goldbourt U, Gonzalez C, Grassi G, Hodge AM, Hveem K, Iacoviello L, Ikram MK, Irazola V, Jobe M, Jousilahti P, Kaleebu P, Kavousi M, Kee F, Khalili D, Koenig W, Kontsevaya A, Kuulasmaa K, Lackner KJ, Leistner DM, Lind L, Linneberg A, Lorenz T, Lyngbakken MN, Malekzadeh R, Malyutina S, Mathiesen EB, Melander O, Metspalu A, Miranda JJ, Moitry M, Mugisha J, Nalini M, Nambi V, Ninomiya T, Oppermann K, d'Orsi E, Pająk A, Palmieri L, Panagiotakos D, Perianayagam A, Peters A, Poustchi H, Prentice AM, Prescott E, Risérus U, Salomaa V, Sans S, Sakata S, Schöttker B, Schutte AE, Sepanlou SG, Sharma SK, Shaw JE, Simons LA, Söderberg S, Tamosiunas A, Thorand B, Tunstall-Pedoe H, Twerenbold R, Vanuzzo D, Veronesi G, Waibel J, Wannamethee SG, Watanabe M, Wild PS, Yao Y, Zeng Y, Ziegler A, Blankenberg S.

2023-08-26459 citations

10.1056/nejmoa2206916

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

Population-based individual-level data with available information on the classical cardiovascular risk factors including body-mass index, systolic blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, current smoking, and diabetes, as well as the outcomes of interest.

Exclusion criteria

* Participants with age below 18 years * No information on the outcome of interest * No information on the exposure of interest (CVD risk factors) * History of CVD at baseline

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Cardiovascular disease (CVD)	Median follow-up of 7-10 years	Event rates of CVD and CVD subtypes: First fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina, coronary revascularization, ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, and cardiovascular or unclassifiable death. The type of outcome measurement varies across cohorts. CVD cases and subtypes are assessed by questionnaire information, national hospital discharge registry data, causes of death registry data or central death registries depending on the study protocol of the respective cohort studies.
Death from any cause	Median follow-up of 7-10 years	Number of deaths from any cause.

Countries

Germany

Contacts

CONTACTProf. Dr. med. Stefan Blankenberg

s.blankenberg@uke.de+49 (0)40 741056800

CONTACTProf. Dr. med. Christina Magnussen

c.magnussen@uke.de+49 (0) 40 741058206

STUDY_CHAIRProf. Dr. med. Stefan Blankenberg

Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Outcome results