Monitoring Disparities in Chronic Conditions Study - MDCC Study

Información en Español

You have been asked to participate in an important health research study, the Monitoring Disparities in Chronic Conditions (MDCC) Study.

In the past, studies have indicated that chronic diseases can affect some communities more than others, based on race, geography, income level, age, and gender, among other factors. Access to health care services to treat those diseases can vary among groups, too.
 
To make sure that everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life with access to appropriate health care services, we have launched the MDCC study. The Study will examine how common chronic health conditions are in our community, including heart, lung, and kidney diseases, and identify risk factors for these conditions in King County.
 
We aim to determine the feasibility and cost effectiveness of a population-based health monitoring system that pulls together information from multiple data sources, including medical and pharmacy records, surveys, and physical examinations. This will help us to better understand health disparities in diseases, access to health care services, and use of health treatments among different groups. 
 
This study is being conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in partnership with Public Health – Seattle & King County, the county health department.
 

About Our Research Study

Participants for the study are recruited in one of two ways:
  • We randomly select households using a commercially available list of addresses and send informational letters to these households. If a telephone number is available, a trained interviewer from Battelle, a health research company, will then call your household to ask if an adult in the household would like to participate. We ask people from households for which a phone number is not available to contact us if they wish to participate.  
  • We ask local hospitals, clinics, physician offices, and emergency medical services to mail information letters to patients with one of the chronic health conditions we are studying. If someone is interested in participating, they contact us.
There are three phases to this study. All study participants will be asked to complete Phase 1 of the study. Some participants who have one of the chronic conditions we are studying and have been seen at a local hospital or clinic in the past two years may be asked to participate in Phase 2 of the study. Some participants may also be asked to participate in Phase 3 of the study.   
 

Phase 1

The first phase of the study includes an initial survey involving questions about health, well-being, neighborhood, and demographic characteristics. Participants may complete this survey by telephone, mail, Internet, or during an in-home visit by a trained interviewer. The initial survey should take 45 minutes or less to complete, although in some cases, it may take longer. A follow-up survey, completed by mail, Internet, or in person, includes questions about medications and dietary history. The follow-up survey should take 45 minutes or less to complete. 
 

Phase 2

Some participants will be asked to participate in the second phase of the study, during which we will review medical and/or pharmacy records pertaining to the specific heart, lung, and kidney diseases we are studying. We may also link information provided by participants for this study to information that may be included in existing databases, such as vital registration and Medicare databases. 
 

Phase 3

For participants selected for the third phase of the study, we will ask for consent and invite them to participate in a physical examination at a study clinic. During the physical examination, we will ask about health behaviors, take several measurements (such as height, weight, and blood pressure), draw a small sample of blood (about 38 mL, or 2.5 tablespoons) to measure cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and ask for a small sample of urine (about 30 mL, or 2 tablespoons) to assess kidney function. Several other aspects of health also will be assessed during the physical examination (for example, hearing, vision, and ability to stand and walk), and participants may also undergo some additional medical tests, such as an electrocardiogram or spirometry, used to detect heart and lung diseases. 
 

Study Investigators

  • Christopher Murray, Professor of Global Health, University of Washington
  • Ali Mokdad, Professor of Global Health, University of Washington
  • Stephen Lim, Assistant Professor of Global Health, University of Washington
  • Graham Nichol, Professor of Medicine, University of Washington
  • Andreas Stergachis, Professor of Global Health, University of Washington
  • Majid Ezzati, Associate Professor of Global Health, Harvard School of Public Health
  • Jonathan Skinner, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College                   
  • David Fleming, Director, Public Health – Seattle & King County

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
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Tel: +1.206.897.2800 Fax: +1.206.897.2899
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