Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program, 1982-1993

Creator:
Duke University. Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.
Scope and content:

Includes materials pertaining to the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program, which was a multisite research program funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). With the publication of research-friendly DSM-III, it became possible for the first time to use standardized interview questions administered by non-clinicians to collect data that could be used to generate specific psychiatric diagnoses. The interview used to generate DMS-III psychiatric diagnoses was the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). NIMH was eager to obtain estimates of the prevalence and incidence of DSM-III diagnoses for the U.S. population. The ECA program was developed to accomplish that goal. Several kinds of funding supported the Duke ECA research program. NIHM funded two adjacent awards for the primary data collection via cooperative agreements. Duke was awarded supplemental funding to field an interview to study participants focused on the extent to which a severe drought in North Carolina affected mental health. After data collection was complete, Duke successfully applied for a R01 from NIHM to more thoroughly analyze the Duke ECA data. Dr. Dan Blazer was principal investigator (PI) of the cooperative agreements and supplemental drought study; Linda K. George, PhD was co-PI. George was PI of the R01 and Blazer was co-PI. Five universities were selected to participate in the ECA program. Duke University was one of the sites selected. Duke's ECA sample consisted of a stratified random sample of adults age 18 and older living in five central North Carolina counties: Durham, Granville, Franklin, Vance, and Warren counties. An oversample of adults age 60 and older was also obtained. The ECA study was known locally as the Piedmont Health Study. There were three types of measurement: a baseline in-person survey, a second in-person survey administered a year later, and a brief telephone survey administered about six months after the baseline interview. In addition to the core interviews, study respondents were asked to complete health diaries. Participants also were asked to sign consent forms allowing us to obtain medical record data from their primary physicians. NIMH released a public-use data set that included a large subset of the data collected at all five ECA sites. All together, the ECA was a comprehensive study of mental illness that laid the groundwork for mental health research since then. The ECA program in general and the Duke ECA in particular spawned hundreds of scientific articles. The Duke ECA also established the Duke Department of Psychiatry and the Center for the Study of Aging as a premier research department. The Duke ECA also laid the groundwork for Duke's Clinical Research Center on Depression in Later Life and the Duke EPESE. Having successfully fielded the ECA demonstrated Duke's ability conduct a major study of scientific and clinical importance. Materials date from 1982 to 1993.

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This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals or IRB approval may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Duke University assumes no responsibility.
Contains Medical Center Administrative records. These include records of the officers of the University, as defined in the Bylaws, the deans of schools and colleges, and departments, institutes, and other offices as designated by the President. For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing from the director of the office of record and the Medical Center Archivist is required for use. After twenty-five years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the Medical Center Archivist. (Issued by the Office of the Chancellor, December 1, 1975).
Materials in boxes 95, 96, 97, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, and 139 are restricted and can only be accessed with the permission of the Medical Center Archivist.
Boxes 94, 98, 109, 113, 114, 115, 116, 119, 120, 125, 128, 129, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, and 147 contains materials restricted at the folder level and must be screened for sensitive or confidential materials before being accessed.
For further information consult with the Medical Center Archivist..

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