Barely one in five Australians over 45 have up-to-date cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor assessments performed in line with guidelines, according to findings from the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

After analysing MedicineInsight general practice data, the Heart Foundation estimates that about 17% of adults over 45 without CVD have had all the necessary risk factors recorded as frequently as recommended. 

Heart Foundation risk reduction manager Natalie Raffoul says their research looks at how often the CVD risk factors are assessed in more than 350,000 patients aged over 45 without heart disease. 

“It’s concerning to see that overall, fewer than one in five adults within this at-risk group had all four of the necessary risk factors recorded to enable absolute CVD risk calculation: blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and smoking status,” Ms Raffoul said.