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Johns Hopkins Precursors Study

Year Begun: 1948
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Principal Investigator: Thomas, Caroline Bedell

Background:

The Precursors Study was started in 1948 by Dr. Caroline Bedell Thomas as a long-term study of purported disease risk factors and health outcomes. Dr. Thomas’s cohort was medical school students from the classes of 1948 through 1964, followed from their time in school through the rest of their lives. The study continues to this day under the leadership of Michael Klag who took over in 1988.

Methods:

There were 1,337 subjects from the Johns Hopkins Medical School classes, containing mostly white males. The study collected data on electrocardiograms, step stress tests, tilt tests blood pressure, cold-pressor tests, serum cholesterol levels, oxygen saturation, salt intake, psychological tests, family history, personal habits, and other variables. After the subjects left medical school, they self reported their results by mail.

Results:

Dr. Thomas developed hypotheses connecting early reactions to the Rorschach test and later development of mental disturbances, cancer, and suicide attempts. Other researchers have used the data and found correlations between depression and cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion/Discussion:

Dr. Thomas hoped to find predictive signs that would act as early warning signs for diseases. Her findings were pioneering in the age group, confirming other risk studies and providing new knowledge. While the study cohort is not diverse it has provided a model for other studies and has been used for comparisons with black medical students. (HB)

References

Weiss, Elaine, (2001). The Study of a Lifetime. Johns Hopkins Magazine, 53 (3), accessed online on June 5, 2006: http://www.jhu.edu/%7Ejhumag/0601web/study.html.