Absolute cardiovascular risk assessment and primary prevention

At a glance

• Cardiovascular risk factors (age, sex, smoking, BP, lipids, diabetes, kidney disease, deprivation) multiply each other. A single measurement, such as a cholesterol of 6.5 mmol/L, says little about a person's chance of a heart attack or stroke.
• Treatment decisions use absolute risk: the probability of a CVD event over a set time. The same relative benefit from a drug gives a much bigger absolute benefit in a high-risk person.
• Australia uses the 2023 Australian guideline and Aus CVD Risk Calculator (cvdcheck.org.au), which estimates 5-year risk of MI, stroke and other CVD events.