Background: Although the burden of premature myocardial infarction (MI) is high in Malaysia, direct evidence on the determinants of MI in this multi-ethnic population remains sparse.
Objective: The Malaysian Acute Vascular Events Risk (MAVERIK) study is a retrospective case-control study established to investigate the genomic, lipid-related, and other determinants of acute MI in Malaysia. In this paper, we report the study protocol and early results.
Methods: By June 2019, we had enrolled approximately 2500 patients with their first MI and 2500 controls without cardiovascular disease, who were frequency-matched by age, sex, and ethnicity, from 17 hospitals in Malaysia. For each participant, serum and whole blood have been collected and stored. Clinical, demographic, and behavioral information has been obtained using a 200-item questionnaire.
Results: Tobacco consumption, a history of diabetes, hypertension, markers of visceral adiposity, indicators of lower socioeconomic status, and a family history of coronary disease were more prevalent in cases than in controls. Adjusted (age and sex) logistic regression models for traditional risk factors indicated that current smoking (odds ratio [OR] 4.11, 95% CI 3.56-4.75; P<.001), previous smoking (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.12-1.60; P=.001), a history of high blood pressure (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.86-2.44; P<.001), a history of diabetes mellitus (OR 2.72, 95% CI 2.34-3.17; P<.001), a family history of coronary heart disease (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07-1.55; P=.009), and obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2; OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.05-1.34; P=.009) were associated with MI in age- and sex-adjusted models.
Conclusions: The MAVERIK study can serve as a useful platform to investigate genetic and other risk factors for MI in an understudied Southeast Asian population. It should help to hasten the discovery of disease-causing pathways and inform regionally appropriate strategies that optimize public health action.
International registered report identifier (irrid): RR1-10.2196/31885.
Keywords: Malaysia; cardiovascular disease; case-control study; myocardial infarction.
©Rajiv Chowdhury, Mohd Fairulnizal Md Noh, Sophia Rasheeqa Ismail, Kim Robin van Daalen, Puteri Sofia Nadira Megat Kamaruddin, Siti Hafizah Zulkiply, Nur Hayati Azizul, Norhayati Mustafa Khalid, Azizan Ali, Izyan Mohd Idris, Yong Shih Mei, Shazana Rifham Abdullah, Norfashihah Faridus, Nur Azirah Md Yusof, Nur Najwa Farahin M Yusoff, Rahman Jamal, Aizai Azan Abdul Rahim, Abdul Kahar Abdul Ghapar, Ammu Kutty Radhakrishnan, Alan Yean Yip Fong, Omar Ismail, Saravanan Krishinan, Chuey Yan Lee, Liew Houng Bang, Eashwary Mageswaren, Kauthaman Mahendran, Nor Hanim Mohd Amin, Gunavathy Muthusamy, Aaron Ong Hean Jin, Ahmad Wazi Ramli, Noel Thomas Ross, Anwar Irawan Ruhani, Mansor Yahya, Yusniza Yusoff, Siti Khairani Zainal Abidin, Laryssa Amado, Thomas Bolton, Sophie Weston, Jason Crawte, Niko Ovenden, Ank Michielsen, Md Mostafa Monower, Wan Rozita Wan Mahiyuddin, Angela Wood, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Nur Suffia Sulaiman, John Danesh, Adam S Butterworth. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 10.02.2022.