Big data to improve patient outcomes
The Clinical Epidemiology Team at the Medical University of Innsbruck applies cutting-edge methods in study design, data management, and analytical tools. Using large-scale data, we aim to scrutinise pathophysiological pathways for cardiovascular diseases, identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention, and improve current strategies for primary and secondary prevention. Our research is interdisciplinary, bringing together data scientists and clinicians from different medical fields.
Which body mass index is associated with the greatest survival?
Overweight and obesity are increasing worldwide. To help assess their relevance to mortality in different populations we meta-analysed prospective studies of body-mass index, limiting confounding and reverse causality by restricting analyses to never-smokers and excluding pre-existing disease and the first 5 years of follow-up. Of 10 625 411 participants in Asia, Australia…
Reductions in life expectancy with cardiometabolic disease
Cardiometabolic diseases often occur in one and the same individual. In this paper published in JAMA, we aimed to estimate by how much life expectancy is reduced in individuals suffering from cardiometabolic multimorbidity. In our analysis, we calculated mortality rates and hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for age and sex using…
Improving cardiovascular disease prediction with lipoprotein(a)
Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In this paper published in JACC we aimed to investigate whether Lp(a) modifies clinical risk assessment in the general community. We measured Lp(a) in 826 men and women (age range, 45 to 84 years) and recorded incidence of cardiovascular diseases…
Leukocyte telomere length is linked to cardiovascular risk
Leading on from our work on telomeres in the Bruneck Study, we have conducted in this paper published in the BMJ a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between leucocyte telomere length and cardiovascular risk. Our analysis included studies published up to March 2014 identified through searches of…
Risk thresholds for alcohol consumption
Recommendations about the limits for low risk for alcohol consumption vary substantially across different national guidelines. In this large collaborative paper published in the Lancet, we aimed to define thresholds associated with lowest risk for mortality and cardiovascular disease, by analysis of data from 599912 drinkers without previous cardiovascular disease.…
NT-proBNP assessment improves prediction of cardiovascular events
Current guidelines for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases focus on the prediction of coronary heart disease and stroke. However, in a significant proportion of people, heart failure is the first presentation of cardiovascular disease, which is not included in prediction models. In this study published in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology,…