Limited data suggest that systematic risk assessment for CVD has no statistically significant effects on clinical endpoints .
There is limited evidence to suggest that CVD systematic risk assessment may have some favourable effects on cardiovascular risk factors .
BACKGROUND Screening programmes can potentially identify people at high cardiovascular risk and reduce cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) morbidity and mortality .
However , there is currently not enough evidence showing clear clinical or economic benefits of systematic screening-like programmes over the widely practised opportunistic risk assessment of CVD in primary care setting s. OBJECTIVES The primary objective of this review was to assess the effectiveness , costs and adverse effects of systematic risk assessment compared to opportunistic risk assessment for the primary prevention of CVD .
Improving cardiovascular health at population level: 39 community cluster randomised trial of Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP)
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of the community based Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program ( CHAP ) on morbidity from cardiovascular disease . Design Community cluster r and omised trial . Setting 39 mid-sized communities in Ontario , Canada , stratified by location and population size . Participants Community dwelling residents aged 65 years or over , family physicians , pharmacists , volunteers , community nurses , and local lead organisations . Intervention Communities were r and omised to receive CHAP ( n=20 ) or no intervention ( n=19 ) . In CHAP communities , residents aged 65 or over were invited to attend volunteer run cardiovascular risk assessment and education sessions held in community based pharmacies over a 10 week period ; automated blood pressure readings and self reported risk factor data were collected and shared with participants and their family physicians and pharmacists . Main outcome measure Composite of hospital admissions for acute myocardial infa rct ion , stroke , and congestive heart failure among all community residents aged 65 and over in the year before compared with the year after implementation of CHAP . Results All 20 intervention communities successfully implemented CHAP . A total of 1265 three hour long sessions were held in 129/145 ( 89 % ) pharmacies during the 10 week programme . 15 889 unique participants had a total of 27 358 cardiovascular assessment s with the assistance of 577 peer volunteers . After adjustment for hospital admission rates in the year before the intervention , CHAP was associated with a 9 % relative reduction in the composite end point ( rate ratio 0.91 , 95 % confidence interval 0.86 to 0.97 ; P=0.002 ) or 3.02 fewer annual hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease per 1000 people aged 65 and over . Statistically significant reductions favouring the intervention communities were seen in hospital admissions for acute myocardial infa rct ion ( rate ratio 0.87 , 0.79 to 0.97 ; P=0.008 ) and congestive heart failure ( 0.90 , 0.81 to 0.99 ; P=0.029 ) but not for stroke ( 0.99 , 0.88 to 1.12 ; P=0.89 ) . Conclusions A collaborative , multi-pronged , community based health promotion and prevention programme targeted at older adults can reduce cardiovascular morbidity at the population level . Trial registration Current controlled trials IS RCT N50550004
Limited data suggest that systematic risk assessment for CVD has no statistically significant effects on clinical endpoints .
There is limited evidence to suggest that CVD systematic risk assessment may have some favourable effects on cardiovascular risk factors .
BACKGROUND Screening programmes can potentially identify people at high cardiovascular risk and reduce cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) morbidity and mortality .
However , there is currently not enough evidence showing clear clinical or economic benefits of systematic screening-like programmes over the widely practised opportunistic risk assessment of CVD in primary care setting s. OBJECTIVES The primary objective of this review was to assess the effectiveness , costs and adverse effects of systematic risk assessment compared to opportunistic risk assessment for the primary prevention of CVD .