Check@Home, an initiative of the DCVA, the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Kidney Foundation and the Diabetes Research Foundation, with a total budget of €8.9 million, can get started thanks to the additional contribution of NWO. NWO announced this funding of €3.8 million today. “A great example of what good collaboration can lead to,” says DCVA director Jolien Roos-Hesselink. “The research represents one of our main priorities.”
Check@Home hopes to start a large-scale study in four regions within a year to detect cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease among 50 to 75-year-olds at an early stage. A total of 160,000 people will be invited for this study. Ultimately, the aim is for every Dutch person in this age group to be able to test themselves at home to see whether these diseases may be present. The main applicants and research leaders are cardiologist and DCVA pillar chair Infrastructure Prof. Dr. Folkert Asselbergs from UMC Utrecht and nephrologist Prof. Dr. Ron Gansevoort from UMC
Top priority
Jolien Roos-Hesselink, DCVA director: “With this approach, the DCVA expects to be able to take an important step in reducing the burden of disease, and this project is therefore a top priority on our annual plan. I am very happy that thanks to NWO, the project can now really start and I think it is a great example of how we can achieve wonderful interdisciplinary projects through collaboration, both within and outside of the DCVA. I would like to recall that the first idea for this project came from the nephrologists, they involved us in this. A wonderful opportunity that we have worked hard on together in the past years.”
The research
The Check@Home study builds on previous studies, including the ‘NierCheck’ study, conducted under the supervision of UMCG nephrologist Ron Gansevoort. A total of 160.000 people between the ages of 50 and 75 living in one of the four regions (Breda, Utrecht, Arnhem, and Eindhoven) will be invited to participate in the study with a home test via the digital Check@Home platform. This home test will include a urine test for (risk factors of) chronic kidney disease, a heart rhythm test and a questionnaire. When these tests show early signs of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease or type 2 diabetes, it is followed by an examination in a regional diagnostic center in order to relieve the burden on regular care as much as possible. If necessary, appropriate lifestyle advice is given and, if required, medication.
The collaboration
Check@Home is a large collaboration with the aim of eventually developing a national and low-threshold cost-effective approach in the home situation for all residents of the Netherlands between the ages of 50 and 75, to detect cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease in an early stage, initiate the right treatment and thus prevent (progression of) these diseases and complications. This way lives can be saved and it also improves the quality of life. The total budget of the Check@Home project is €8.9 million, and has been made possible in part by the newly obtained grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and further financial contributions from the Dutch Heart Foundation, Kidney Foundation, Diabetes Research Foundation and various private partners. Next to these partners, several Dutch UMCs and universities are also involved in the consortium.