The GLOB-cAGE Consortium: A Global Cardiovascular Collaborative Network of Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease

Background: GLOB-cAGE is a newly established unprecedented consortium that brings together cohorts of older persons with cardiovascular disease worldwide. GLOB-cAGE aims to harmonize non-identifiable data from longitudinal cohorts examining cardiovascular health and cardiovascular disease diagnosis and management in older individuals to perform meta-regression analyses using combined repositories of standardized subject-level data points.

Methods and design: Studies registered into GLOB-cAGE are population-based longitudinal cohort studies or clinical trials, either ongoing or completed, that involve assessing cardiovascular health as a central objective. Cross-sectional studies that significantly contribute to cardiovascular research in older individuals may also be included. The GLOB-cAGE will consist of individuals already diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and primary prevention of individuals at different risks of cardiovascular disease. The studies should have a minimum sample size of 100 participants, and the participants are either adults aged above 65 years or above 40 years with longitudinal follow-up over the next few decades. Enrollment in GLOB-cAGE may involve collaboration on non-identifiable or anonymized raw or processed data for joint analyses. Sites unable to provide raw or processed data due to institutional or other reasons may participate in alternative ways, including performing separate analyses in-house. At the time of writing, there are at least ten participating teams from nine countries and 27 studies enrolled in GLOB-cAGE.

Conclusions: The GLOB-cAGE consortium is an international effort to bring together cardiovascular disease research in older persons, focusing on providing greater representation from diverse countries battling population aging. It addresses the evidence gaps from the insufficient enrolment of older individuals in randomized controlled trials and permits investigators to conduct high-quality epidemiological studies.