Framingham risk score
Synonyms and keywords: FRS

# Overview
The Framingham Risk Score is used to estimate the 10-year cardiovascular risk of an individual. The Framingham Risk Score is based on data obtained from the Framingham Heart Study. There are two Framingham Risk Scores, one for men and one for women.

# Framingham Risk Score on the Internet
The Framingham Risk Score is available free of charge on the Internet. Everybody can estimate their 10-year cardiovascular risk on the following web page:

# Cardiovascular Risk Scoring systems
The Framingham Risk Score is one of a number of scoring systems used to determine an individual's chances of developing cardiovascular disease. This means either coronary heart disease or stroke. A number of these scoring systems are available online. Cardiovascular risk scoring systems give an estimate of the probability that a person will develop cardiovascular disease within the next 5 or 10 years. Because they give an indication of who is most likely to develop cardiovascular disease they also indicate who is most likely to benefit from prevention. For this reason cardiovascular risk scores are used to determine who should be offered preventive drugs such as drugs to lower blood pressure and drugs to lower cholesterol levels.

# Usefulness
Because the Framingham Risk Score (or another appropriate scoring system) give an indication of the likely benefits of prevention, they are useful for both the individual patient and for the clinician in helping decide whether lifestyle modification and preventive medical treatment, and for patient education, by identifying men and women at increased risk for future cardiovascular events. The CHD risk at 10 years in percent can be calculated with the help of the Framingham Risk Score. Individuals with low risk have 10% or less CHD risk at 10 years, with intermediate risk 10-20%, and with high risk 20% or more. However it should be remembered that these categorisations are arbitrary.
A more useful metric is to consider the effects of treatment. If 100 persons have a 20% ten-year risk of cardiovascular disease it means that 20 of these 100 individuals will develop cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease or stroke) in the next 10 years. Eighty of them will not develop cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years. If they were to take a combination of treatments (for example drugs to lower cholesterol levels plus drugs to lower blood pressure) that reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by half it means that 10 of these 100 individuals would develop cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years: 90 of them would not develop cardiovascular disease. This means that 10 of these individuals would have avoided cardiovascular disease by taking treatment for 10 years; 10 would get cardiovascular disease whether or not they took treatment; and 80 would not have got cardiovascular disease whether or not they took treatment.

# Issues Raised by Cardiovascular Risk Prediction
It is important to recognise that the strongest predictor of cardiovascular risk in any risk equation is age. Almost all persons aged 70 and over are at >20% ten year cardiovascular risk and almost nobody aged under 40 is at >20% ten year cardiovascular risk. Since those who benefit most from treatment are those at highest risk, this means that treatment of patients with raised blood pressure and raised cholesterol levels in their 30ies benefits very few. Whereas treatment of patients with "normal" blood pressure and "normal" cholesterol levels in their 70ies benefits many. This casts doubt on the wisdom of categorising individuals as having high blood pressure or raised cholesterol and treating these individual risk factors without a consideration of both their overall risk of cardiovascular disease and of the probability that they will benefit.

# Background
Cardiovascular disease is common in the general population, affecting the majority of adults. It includes: 1) Coronary heart disease (CHD): Myocardial infarction (MI), angina pectoris, heart failure (HF), and coronary death. 2) Cerebrovascular disease, stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). 3) Peripheral arterial disease, intermittent claudication and significant limb ischemia. 4) Aortic disease: Aortic atherosclerosis, thoracic aortic aneurysm, and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
An individuals risk for future cardiovascular events is modifiable, by lifestyle changes and preventive medical treatment. Lifestyle changes can include stopping smoking, healthy diet, regular exercise, etc. Preventive medical treatment can include a statin, mini dose aspirin, treatment for hypertension, etc. It is important to be able to predict the risk of an individual patient, in order to decide when to initiate lifestyle modification and preventive medical treatment.
Multiple risk models for the prediction of cardiovascular risk of individual patients have been developed. One such key risk model is the Framingham Risk Score.
The Framingham Risk Score is based on findings from the Framingham Heart Study.

# Validation
The Framingham Risk Score has been validated in the USA, both in men and women, both in European Americans and African Americans.. While several studies have claimed to improve on the FRS, there is little evidence for any improved prediction beyond the Framingham risk score 

# Limitations
There are two limitations.
The Framingham Risk Score predicts only future coronary heart disease (CHD) events. It does not predict future total cardiovascular events, i.e. it does not also predict risk for stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), and heart failure. These also important patient outcomes were included in the 2008 Framingham General Cardiovascular Risk Score. The predicted risk for an individual usually is higher with the 2008 Framingham General Cardiovascular Risk Score than with the 2002 Framingham Risk Score.
The Framingham Risk Score could overestimate (or underestimate) risk in populations other than the US population , and within the USA in populations other than European Americans and African Americans, e.g. Hispanic Americans and Native Americans. It is not yet clear if this limitation is real, or appears to be real because of differences in methodology, etc. As a result, other countries may prefer to use another risk score, e.g. SCORE, which has been recommended by the European Society of Cardiology in 2007.
If possible, a cardiology professional should select the risk prediction model which is most appropriate for an individual patient and should remember that this is only an estimate.

# Current version of the Framingham Risk Score
The current version of the Framingham Risk Score was published in 2002. The publishing body is the ATP III, i.e. the Adult Treatment Panel III, an expert panel of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA.
The original Framingham Risk Score had been published in 1998.

# Differences between the versions
The first Framingham Risk Score included age, gender, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure (and also whether the patient is treated or not for his/her hypertension), diabetes, and smoking. It estimated the 10-year risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). It performed well, and correctly predicted 10-year risk for CHD in American men and women of European and African descent.
The updated version was modified to include dyslipidemia, age range, hypertension treatment, smoking, and total cholesterol, and it excluded diabetes, because Type 2 diabetes meanwhile was considered to be a CHD Risk Equivalent, having the same 10-year risk as individuals with prior CHD. Patients with Type 1 diabetes were considered separately with slightly less aggressive goals; while at increased risk, no study had shown them to be at equivalent risk for CHD as those with previously diagnosed coronary disease or Type 2 diabetes.

# CHD Risk Equivalent
Some patients without known CHD have risk of cardiovascular events that is comparable to that of patients with established CHD. Cardiology professionals refer to such patients as having a CHD Risk Equivalent. These patients should be managed as patients with known CHD. Diabetes is accepted as a CHD Risk Equivalent.

# Analysis of the US population with the Framingham/ATP III criteria
The Framingham/ATP III criteria were used to estimate CHD risk in the USA. Data from 11,611 patients from a very large study, the NHANES III, were used. The patients were 20 to 79 years of age, and had no self reported CHD, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, or diabetes.
The results: 82% of patients had low risk (10% or less CHD risk at 10 years). 16% had intermediate risk (10-20%). 3% had high risk (20% or more).
High risk was most commonly found in patients with advanced age, and was more common in men than women.

# No fully standardised name
Framingham Risk Score: The first part of this name, i.e. "Framingham", may be called either "Framingham" or "Framingham/ATP III" by cardiology professionals, and the second part may be called "Score", "Risk Score" or "Cardiac Risk Score". All possible combinations have been used. However, "Framingham Risk Score" is more common than the other variants.

# The Framingham Risk Score in detail
Below are the points of the Framingham Risk Score in detail. However, it is much easier to use the calculator on the Internet.

# Framingham Risk Score for Women
Age: 20-34 years: Minus 7 points. 35-39 years: Minus 3 points. 40-44 years: 0 points. 45-49 years: 3 points. 50-54 years: 6 points. 55-59 years: 8 points. 60-64 years: 10 points. 65-69 years: 12 points. 70-74 years: 14 points. 75-79 years: 16 points.
Total cholesterol, mg/dL: Age 20-39 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 4 points. 200-239: 8 points. 240-279: 11 points. 280 or higher: 13 points. - Age 40-49 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 3 points. 200-239: 6 points. 240-279: 8 points. 280 or higher: 10 points. - Age 50-59 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 2 points. 200-239: 4 points. 240-279: 5 points. 280 or higher: 7 points. - Age 60-69 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 1 point. 200-239: 2 points. 240-279: 3 points. 280 or higher: 4 points. - Age 70-79 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 1 point. 200-239: 1 point. 240-279: 2 points. 280 or higher: 2 points.
If cigarette smoker: Age 20-39 years: 9 points. - Age 40-49 years: 7 points. - Age 50-59 years: 4 points. - Age 60-69 years: 2 points. - Age 70-79 years: 1 point.
All non smokers: 0 points.
HDL cholesterol, mg/dL: 60 or higher: Minus 1 point. 50-59: 0 points. 40-49: 1 point. Under 40: 2 points.
Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg: Untreated: Under 120: 0 points. 120-129: 1 point. 130-139: 2 points. 140-159: 3 points. 160 or higher: 4 points. - Treated: Under 120: 0 points. 120-129: 3 points. 130-139: 4 points. 140-159: 5 points. 160 or higher: 6 points.
10-year risk in %: Points total: Under 9 points: <1%. 9-12 points: 1%. 13-14 points: 2%. 15 points: 3%. 16 points: 4%. 17 points: 5%. 18 points: 6%. 19 points: 8%. 20 points: 11%. 21=14%, 22=17%, 23=22%, 24=27%, 25=30%

# Framingham Risk Score for Men
Age: 20-34 years: Minus 9 points. 35-39 years: Minus 4 points. 40-44 years: 0 points. 45-49 years: 3 points. 50-54 years: 6 points. 55-59 years: 8 points. 60-64 years: 10 points. 65-69 years: 11 points. 70-74 years: 12 points. 75-79 years: 13 points.
Total cholesterol, mg/dL: Age 20-39 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 4 points. 200-239: 7 points. 240-279: 9 points. 280 or higher: 11 points. - Age 40-49 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 3 points. 200-239: 5 points. 240-279: 6 points. 280 or higher: 8 points. - Age 50-59 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 2 points. 200-239: 3 points. 240-279: 4 points. 280 or higher: 5 points. - Age 60-69 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 1 point. 200-239: 1 point. 240-279: 2 points. 280 or higher: 3 points. - Age 70-79 years: Under 160: 0 points. 160-199: 0 points. 200-239: 0 points. 240-279: 1 point. 280 or higher: 1 point.
If cigarette smoker: Age 20-39 years: 8 points. - Age 40-49 years: 5 points. - Age 50-59 years: 3 points. - Age 60-69 years: 1 point. - Age 70-79 years: 1 point.
All non smokers: 0 points.
HDL cholesterol, mg/dL: 60 or higher: Minus 1 point. 50-59: 0 points. 40-49: 1 point. Under 40: 2 points.
Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg: Untreated: Under 120: 0 points. 120-129: 0 points. 130-139: 1 point. 140-159: 1 point. 160 or higher: 2 points. - Treated: Under 120: 0 points. 120-129: 1 point. 130-139: 2 points. 140-159: 2 points. 160 or higher: 3 points.
10-year risk in %:
Points total:
0 point:  <1%.  
1 point:  1%.
2 points: 1%.
3 points: 1%.
4 points: 1%.
5 points: 2%.
6 points: 2%.
7 points: 3%.
8 points: 4%.
9 points: 5%.
10 points: 6%.
11 points: 8%.
12 points: 10%.
13 points: 12%.
14 points: 16%.
15 points: 20%.
16 points: 25%.
17 points or more: Over 30%.

# Further risk score profiles based on the Framingham Heart Study
Not only coronary heart disease (CHD) events, but also further risks can be predicted. Risk prediction models for cardiovascular disease outcomes other than CHD events have also been developed by the Framingham Heart Study researchers. Amongst others, a risk score for 10-year risk for atrial fibrillation has been developed. 
A calculator for 10-year risk for atrial fibrillation is available free of charge on the official website of the Framingham Heart Study: