The STAAB cohort study: detecting heart failure in the general population

What is it about?

The STAAB program is a joint initiative of the BMBF-funded Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Würzburg, and the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, Würzburg. The STAAB consortium screens a representative large population-based sample out of a defined region in Germany in order to detect how often heart failure and its precursors are present. By following these subjects over time we will be able to dissect out certain factors contributing to disease development and progression. The STAAB program generates a wealth of data that can be shared on request with other researchers (technical information, anthropometry, multiple self-reported questionnaires, physician-based interview, medication, cardiovascular data, biosamples).

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Why is it important?

The factors contributing to and/or accelerating heart failure development in its various aspects (e.g., systolic vs non-systolic heart failure) are ill-defined. For a multitude of aspects the STAAB cohort serves as comparison group in case-control studies: comparisons with various diseased and non-diseased groups are possible. The STAAB consortium has put much effort into standardizing the phenotyping of patient groups across disease entities at the Würzburg University Hospital Campus in order to facilitate such scientific collaborations.

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