The Cartagena Cohort Study

Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are the first and third cause of death, respectively. Cardiovascular risk is known to increase in groups with impaired lung function; however, the mechanisms behind this association are not fully understood. The aim of CaReS is to elucidate the shared pathophysiology of impaired lung function and cardiovascular risk, and to investigate the risk factors associated with them. The CaReS Cohort Study includes adults (18-80 years old) from Cartagena de Indias, a tropical city on Colombian Caribbean Coast, where recent population admixture settled a three-hybrid genetic structure (European, African and Ameridian ancestry). At baseline, the cohort will generate extensive data on -omics (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and epigenomics), socio-economic wellbeing, lifestyle, medical history, cardiometabolic, inflammatory and liver function markers, as well as objective measures of ventilatory and cardiovascular performance. The cohort will collect data every three years, for a total period of ten years. Prospective risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be investigated, and their risk factors. Throughout the study period, changes in prevalence, and interactions of various risk factors with these changes will also be ascertained. A predictive risk score for cardiovascular and chronic respiratory disability will be built, using cross-sectional and longitudinal data.