Prediction tools ‘underestimate CVD risk’ in Indigenous Australians
Most cardiovascular risk prediction equations greatly underestimate the future risk of heart disease among Indigenous Australians, a study suggests.
This underestimation, which was greater in women and younger age groups, is exacerbated by low screening rates of the at-risk population, the researchers say.
Writing in Heart, the Menzies School of Health Research-led team used longitudinal data from 3600 Indigenous Australians, aged 30-74, and without heart disease, from five population-based cohort studies to investigate the performance of six CVD risk equations.
Five-year CVD predicted risk was calculated for each participant using the 1991 Framingham Health Study equation (1991-FHS) and the Central Australian Rural Practitioners Association adjusted FHS equation (CARPA-adjusted FHS).
