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Project Viva Glossary

This glossary covers frequently used Project Viva science terms, visit-related language and visit components, research and publication terms, and staff roles. This is a living webpage document intended to grow and change. If you have further suggestions or additions, please contact us.

A B C D E F G H-L M N O P-Q R S T-Z

A

A
Actigraph

Actigraph is a wearable device that tracks physical activity and sleep.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Mom participants are given an Actigraph at the Women's Health Visit 1 to wear for one week. Viva kids were given Actigraphs to wear at the Early Teen Visit.

Adiposity/Central Adiposity 

Adiposity is the fact or condition of having much or too much fatty tissue in the body. Central adiposity refers to the accumulation of fat in the lower torso around the abdominal area.


Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Mom participants are given an Actigraph at the Women's Health Visit 1 to wear for one week. Viva kids were given Actigraphs to wear at the Early Teen Visit.

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Related Viva Publication

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years).


Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We ask about ACEs on Project Viva questionnaires, like the Women's Health Visit 1 Questionnaire, because they are important social determinants of health.

Age 19 Survey

To ensure thorough inclusion of all children participants at age 19, the annual survey at age 19 was open for an extended period, from December 2019 - July 2022. This survey asked about physical and mental health, daily activities and behaviors, and living environment.


Example of Use in Project Viva

Air Pollution

Air pollution is the contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.


Example of Use in Project Viva

  • In one study, Project Viva looked at the link between air pollution exposure during pregnancy, and thyroid function.

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Related Viva Publication

Allergen

An allergen is a substance that can cause an allergic reaction. In some people, the immune system recognizes allergens as foreign or dangerous. Common allergens include animal proteins and dander, dust, latex, and pollen.


Example of Use in Project Viva

  • At the mid-childhood visit, blood that was collected was tested for allergies

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Related Viva Publication

Annual Survey

Project Viva sends out annual surveys to track the changes in participants throughout the years. Annual surveys allow us to get up-to-date information as both participants’ lives and the current world events change over time. Project Viva is an ongoing longitudinal study, which means we want to look at changes over a longer period of time. 


Example of Use in Project Viva

Anthropometry

Anthropometry is the science that defines physical measures of a person’s size, form, and functional capacities.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva takes various athropometric measurements, like waist and hip circumference, as these measurements can be indicators of cardiometabolic health. 

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Related Viva Publication

Associations

Associations are when two or more things are related or connected to one another.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Wheezing in early life is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma later in life.

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Related Viva Publication

Asthma

A chronic condition that causes the airways to become inflamed and narrowed at times. Asthma affects people of all ages and often starts during childhood. Certain things can set off or worsen asthma symptoms, such as pollen, exercise, viral infections, or cold air. These are called asthma triggers. When symptoms get worse, it is called an asthma attack.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We asked about asthma diagnoses in the early and mid-childhood visits.

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Related Viva Publication

B

B
Beiwe

A smartphone app that allows participants to use personal devices to collect moment-by-moment survey data. It attempts to survey subjects' behaviors and experiences in real time in their natural environments. We also used Beiwe in Project Viva to test out whether using a smartphone app was useful for data collection.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We launched Beiwe to a subset of Project Viva Young Adults as a part of a 6-month pilot.

Bioimpedance

Bioimpedance is a method for estimating body composition, in particular body fat and muscle mass.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We used a bioimpedance scale to measure body composition in a study on maternal history infertility.

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Related Viva Publication

Biomarker

Bioimpedance is a method for estimating body composition, in particular body fat and muscle mass.

Blood Draw

A component of a Project Viva visit where a phlebotomist takes blood from the participant.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Blood draws in past Project Viva visits informed a study on the correlation between fish consumption and mercury levels in the body.

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Related Viva Publication

Blood Draw

A component of a Project Viva visit where a phlebotomist takes blood from the participant.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Blood draws in past Project Viva visits informed a study on the correlation between fish consumption and mercury levels in the body.

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Related Viva Publication

Body Composition

Body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We used our DXA machine to measure body composition in early childhood, informing a study on fruit juice consumption and abdominal adiposity (body fat).

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Related Viva Publication

Bone Density

A measure of the amount of minerals (mostly calcium and phosphorous) contained in a certain volume of bone. Bone density measurements are used to diagnose osteoporosis (a condition marked by decreased bone mass), to see how well osteoporosis treatments are working, and to predict how likely the bones are to break.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We take hip, spine, and full body DXA scans of our mom participants during the Women's Health Visit 1, as these locations are ideal for measuring bone density.

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Related Viva Publication

C

Cantab
C

The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) includes a series of online cogntitive assessments intended as a screening tools for detecting cognitive decline or alterations. The assessments utilize visuospatial stimuli (shapes, patterns, etc.) to elicit nonverbal reactions from subjects.

Example of Use in Project Viva

Chronic Disease

Conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.

Example of Use in Project Viva

Cognition

Cognitive health — the ability to clearly think, learn, and remember — is an important component of performing everyday activities. Cognitive health is just one aspect of overall brain health.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We measured child cognition to inform many of our studies on prenatal exposures and childhood health outcomes. 

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Related Viva Publication

Cohort Study

A cohort study is a type of longitudinal study which aims to look at how a group of people are exposed to different risk factors which may affect their lives.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva is a cohort study that looks at how its participants are impacted by different environmental exposures.

Co-Investigator (Co-I)

A senior or key investigator involved in a clinical study who does not have the overall responsibility and authority of the Principal Investigator (PI). A Co-I is expected to devote a specified amount of time to the project, makes significant contributions, and may be involved in developing and/or carrying out the project. Co-Is typically have a PhD or Master's degree relating to their field of research. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

Consent

A process by which a subject voluntarily confirms their willingness to participate in a particular trial or component, after having been informed of all aspects that are relevant to the subject’s decision to participate.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva always obtains consent before collecting data from participants. If a participant does not consent to a component, we cannot attempt that component. Even if someone consents to every visit component on their consent form, they can tell us at any time if they change their mind.

Contraception

Contraception is intentional prevention of birth control through the use of various devices, sexual practices, chemicals, drugs, or surgical procedures. The alternative name is birth control. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We ask about contraception on our surveys, as participants have expressed interest about the ways different methods are connected to health.​

D

D
Diabetes

A disease that occurs when blood glucose (or blood sugar) is too high. Blood glucose is our main source of energy and comes from food. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for energy. If your body does not make enough insulin, or does not use insulin well, glucose then stays in the blood and does not reach your cells.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • An early Project Viva study studied the association of diet during early pregnancy with the development of gestational diabetes.

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Related Viva Publication

Diastolic Blood Pressure

Diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number in a blood pressure reading, and refers to the amount of pressure in the arteries while the heart is resting in between heartbeats.

DNA

The molecule inside cells that contains the genetic information responsible for the development and function of an organism. DNA molecules allow this information to be passed from one generation to the next.

DNA Methylation

A chemical reaction in the body in which a small molecule called a methyl group gets added to DNA, proteins, or other molecules. The addition of methyl groups can affect how some molecules act in the body. For example, methylation of the DNA sequence of a gene may turn the gene off so it does not make a protein. Changes in the methylation patterns of genes or proteins can affect a person’s risk of developing a disease, such as cancer.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • In one study from Project Viva, researchers examined the relationship between DNA methylation and pregnancy duration.

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Related Viva Publication

DXA

The DXA, or "Dual X-ray Absorptiometry," is a quick and pain free scan that can tell you a lot about your body. It provides you with an in-depth analysis of your fat tissue, lean mass and bone density.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • This is a component in Project Viva's in person visits.

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Related Viva Publication

E

E
Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program

The ECHO Program is a nationwide effort, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to understand how the environment and things that happen early in children's lives affect their development, health, and wellbeing.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva was 1 of 69 cohorts across the U.S. that participated in ECHO Cycle 1.

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Related Publication

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems.

Epigenetics

Epigenetic signals tell your body which genes to turn on and off at different times, but they do not change the actual genetic code. If genes are like the body's "hardware" then epigenetics is like the "software” that tells the hardware how to work. They are essentially the instruction book for the genes. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • In addition to learning about how genes influence health, Project Viva is also interested in learning about epigenetics. We aim to analyze epigenetics in blood samples collected at study visits.

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Related Viva Publication

Exposure

Exposure refers to any characteristic that may explain or predict the presence of a study outcome.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • In Project Viva, health exposures of interest include diet, physical activity, sleep, environmental chemicals, air pollution, stressors, mental health, and others.

F

F
Fasting Blood Draw

A component of a Project Viva visit where a phlebotomist takes blood from the participant who has not had anything to eat or drink for several hours before the draw.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Analyzing a blood draw taken while the participant was fasting gives us information about how their body processes sugar. We measured pregnant Project Viva participants' blood glucose to check for hyperglycemia.

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Related Viva Publication

G

G
Genetics

DNA is the material that makes up your genes. Genes are passed from parents to child and contain the instructions that tell our bodies how to grow and work. We use any biospecimen samples, such as blood, that we have collected from you and stored to perform genetic analyses to be used for research.
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Related Viva Publication

Gestation

The period of time between conception and childbirth.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy in women who don’t already have diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects you’re your cells use sugar (glucose) and causes high blood sugar that can affect your pregnancy and your baby's health.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva moms have been asked to do glucose tolerance tests (GTT), which involves drinking a sugary beverage and taking a fasting blood sample to help diagnose diabetes.

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Related Viva Publication

Green Space

Any vegetated land or water within an urban area; this includes: parks, gardens, playing fields, children's play areas, woods and other natural areas.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva used satellite imaging at the Mid-Teen Visit timepoint to measure participant exposure to green space.

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Related Viva Publication

H

H-L
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is a Massachusetts-based health insurance company. It is home to the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, a collaboration with Harvard Medical School. As Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine, the Institute is the only appointing department of a U.S. medical school housed within a health plan. Funded primarily through external government and private sources, it provides information to the health care system on issues affecting population health and health care delivery.

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Your blood pressure changes throughout the day based on your activities. Having blood pressure measures consistently above normal may result in a diagnosis of high blood pressure (or hypertension).

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Related Viva Publication

Home Visit

A home visit is when Project Viva research assistants drive to Project Viva participants' homes to complete a visit. Research assistants bring the necessary visit equipment with them (i.e., a height board, blood pressure machine, and visit laptops) to conduct the necessary components.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Components of a home visit have included: body measurements, blood pressure measurements, questionnaires, cognitive testing, a short physical performance assessment, and Actigraph.

L

Longitudinal Study

In a longitudinal study, researchers repeatedly examine the same individuals to detect any changes that might occur over a period of time.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva is a longitudinal study that has examined the same participants for over 20 years.

M

M
Maternal Health

Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Each stage of maternal should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being.

Menopause

Menopause is a point in time 12 months after a woman's last period. The years leading up to that point, when women may have changes in their monthly cycles, hot flashes, or other symptoms, are called the menopausal transition or perimenopause. The menopausal transition most often begins between ages 45 and 55. It usually lasts about seven years, but can be as long as 14 years.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva has expanded its focus to midlife for mothers, including the menopausal transition. One of Project Viva's grant aims includes studying sleep health and hot flashes in mid-life women.

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Related Viva Publication

Mental Health

Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, act, make choices, and relate to others. Mental health is more than the absence of a mental illness—it’s essential to your overall health and quality of life. Self-care can play a role in maintaining your mental health and help support your treatment and recovery if you have a mental illness.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Mental health has been tackled many different ways through questions asked at many Viva visits and questionnaires. We asked about childhood traumas starting in the pregnancy visits to potential sources of stress at early post-delivery visits, all the way up until our recent visit questionnaires which address depression, anxiety, sources of support, coping and resiliency.

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Related Viva Publication

Meta-analysis

Meta-analysis is a statistical approach that combines the findings of multiple independent studies to calculate an overall effect. This is a quantitative method that used in medical research to assess previous research results to derive conclusion about the body of research topic. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • A meta-analysis involving Project Viva concluded that having a healthy BMI and gaining a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy could reduce the risk of complications during birth.

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Related Viva Publication

Metals

Metals naturally come from the earth and are spread throughout the food chain.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva has focused on the health impacts of different metals, like mercury, on the health of mothers and children.

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Related Viva Publication

MoCA

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a test used to detect mild cognitive decline and early signs of dementia. It can help identify people at risk of Alzheimer's disease and screen for conditions like Parkinson's disease, brain tumors, substance abuse, and head trauma. MoCA has been widely adopted in clinical settings and used in academic and non-academic research around the world.

Example of Use in Project Viva

N

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation's medical research agency, supporting scientific studies nationwide.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Project Viva has been primarily funded by the NIH since the very beginning of the study.

N
Neonatal

The life stage spanning from birth to 4 weeks.

Nutrition/Diet Quality

The taking in and use of food and other nourishing material by the body. Diet quality refers to both the amount of nutrients and the uptake of specific nutrients from foods to support body maintenance, growth, physiological status (for instance pregnancy and lactation), physical activity and protection against infection.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We found that TV watching was associated with poorer diety quality in 3-year-olds.

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Related Viva Publication

O

Obesity

Abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. Obesity results from a combination of genetic susceptibility, metabolism, and environmental factors. Although it is often attributed to poor dietary habits and lack of physical activity, it can also be influenced by chemicals in the environment and genetics. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Studying obesity was one of the initial aims of Project Viva, and has inspired many other research questions.

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Related Viva Publication

O
Outcome

Outcomes (also called events or endpoints) are variables that are monitored during a study to document the impact that a given intervention or exposure has on the health of a given population. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • In one study, we measured moms' exposure to heavy metals. The weight of their babies was one outcome we observed

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Related Viva Publication

P

P-Q

PFAS are a class of chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products for decades. PFAS are also known as "forever chemicals" because they do not breakdown in the environment, can build up in living things, and can adversely impact human health and the environment. PFAS are commonly found in cleaning products, nonstick cookware, and water-resistant fabrics, such as rain jackets, umbrellas, and tents.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We collected blood samples in early childhood to measure PFAS levels.

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Related Viva Publication

Perinatal

The life stage spanning from just before birth to a few weeks after birth.

Phlebotomist

A phlebotomist is a medical professional who’s trained to perform blood draws. They collect blood for testing for research purposes.

Point32Health

Point32Health is the parent organization of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan.

Postnatal

The period immediately following childbirth.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy related high blood pressure disorder where the mother's high blood pressure reduces the blood supply to the fetus, which may get less oxygen and fewer nutrients.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We ask about preeclampsia on the pregnancy history grid, which is included as part of many Viva questionnaires. Most recently, we asked participants about this at one time either on the Age 19 Questionnaire, the Annual Survey 2022, or the Women's Health Visit 1 Questionnaire.

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Related Viva Publication

The life stage spanning from conception to birth.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • From 1999 to 2002, Project Viva recruited pregnant women whose children were in the prenatal life stage. Our original grant was specific to studying prenatal predictors of childhood obesity. 

Preterm labor occurs when regular contractions result after week 20 and before week 37 of pregnancy.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • We ask about preterm labor on the pregnancy history grid, which is included as part of many Viva questionnaires. Most recently, we asked participants about this at one time either on the Age 19 Questionnaire, the Annual Survey 2022, or the Women's Health Visit 1 Questionnaire. 

The person(s) in charge of a scientific research grant often holds a PhD or MD. The principal investigator prepares and carries out the plan for the study or research paid for by the grant. The principal investigator also analyzes the data and reports the results of the trial or grant research. Also called PI.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Emily Oken and Marie-France Hivert are PIs of Project Viva.

A research study of women and their children starting in 1998 and ongoing through present day. Project Viva mothers completed in-person examinations during pregnancy, and were seen together with their children at study visits throughout childhood and into the teen years. Project Viva now invites mothers and their children to continue their participation as individuals, as we shift our focus toward separate studies of young adult health and women’s health.

R

R

A remote visit is an opportunity for Project Viva participants to complete components without coming into the office or seeing Project Viva staff members in person.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Some components of a remote visit have included online questionnaires, cognitive testing, and a mailed Actigraph. Research assistants usually work with participants virtually (by phone, video call, or email) to complete remote visits.

A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are responsible to a supervisor or principal investigator and usually are not directly responsible for the outcome of the research. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • RAs work with Project Viva participants to conduct study visits.

S

S

This is an assessment tool for evaluating lower body functioning.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • At in-person Women's Health Visits, we ask participants to do a short physical performance battery assessment. This includes a balance and walking activity.

A sleep diary is a log to track your sleep over a period of days to weeks.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Mom participants are asked to complete sleep diaries for the Women's Health Visit 1.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • Our very first Project Viva published paper examined how social determinants of health like maternal experiences with racism and violence could predict preterm birth.

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Related Viva Publication

Systolic Blood Pressure

The first number in a blood pressure reading, measuring the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats.

V

T-Z

A visit questionnaire is a component of the Project Viva visit. 

Example of Use in Project Viva

  • In the Young Adult Visit 1 and Women's Health Visit 1 questionnaire, we ask participants to answer questions about their health, habits, and more.

Each life stage is defined as a visit timepoint. For example, Project Viva collects comprehensive information from mother- children pairs at different life stages, including pregnancy, infancy, early childhood, mid-childhood, early teen, and mid-teen.  As the children participants transition into adulthood, Project Viva has separated mothers and children participants and launched Women's health visit 1 for mothers and Young adult's visit 1 for young adults participants. 

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