Protocol of a Large, Diverse, Urban Cardiovascular Health e-Cohort Study in Childhood and Adolescence: The Young Hearts Study (Preprint)

Background: Cardiovascular health (CVH), defined as a composite of 8 health factors and behaviors ranging from body composition to sleep duration, is strongly associated with the risk for future cardiovascular events in adults. However, there is little data on CVH among contemporary, diverse cohorts of children and adolescents. Objective: This protocol describes the completed recruitment of a diverse pediatric e-cohort based in Chicago. We include details about ongoing longitudinal data collection for CVH behaviors, as well as neighborhood and environment-based socioeconomic factors, and linkage to electronic health records for direct capture of CVH factors. Methods: Young Hearts uses a longitudinal cohort design, linking participant responses to annual electronic surveys to electronic health records (EHRs). Parents/guardians of children ages 0-17 years and adolescents ages 18 years are asked to complete surveys at 3 e-visits, completed annually in consecutive years. Adolescents ages 12-17 are invited to complete surveys at each e-visit to provide self-report of their data in addition to their parents/guardians. As adolescents reach age of majority, they are re-consented and complete their remaining e-visit data. Participants’ clinical data is abstracted from EHRs at 6 health systems in Chicago and linked to their survey data. The main study outcome is the CVH score, adapted from the Life’s Essential Eight framework for use in pediatric populations. We will also study component CVH behaviors and factors each assessed using developmentally-appropriate measures, including body mass index, blood pressure, lipids, glycemic control, diet, physical activity, sleep, and smoking exposure. Our innovative study design will allow us to model trajectories of pediatric CVH from birth through age 20. Funding for this study was provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL155864). Results: The Young Hearts study recruited, enrolled, and consented 8,948 children and adolescents ages 0-18 years between April 2022 and February 2025. Baseline surveys have been completed by 8,254 participants, of whom 50% were female and mean age was 8.6 (SD 5.5) years. Follow-up e-visits are still in progress, with completion anticipated in February 2027. We aim to publish results beginning in 2025. Conclusions: This study will define the epidemiology of CV risk factors in a diverse, contemporary cohort of US children and adolescents and identify behavioral and structural individual- and area-level economic, psychosocial, and lifestyle factors associated with identified disparities. We anticipate that the Young Hearts cohort will become an ongoing resource for pediatric CVH research. Clinical Trial: N/A