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 .
A controlled trial of multiphasic screening in middle-age: results of the South-East London Screening Study. 1977.
South-East London Screening Study Group ( Department of Community Medicine , St Thomas 's Hospital and Medical School , London SE1 1EH , Engl and ) . A controlled trial of  multiphasic screening in middle-age : results of the South-East London Screening Study . International Journal of Epidemiology 1977;6:357 - 63 . The results of a controlled trial of multiphasic screening in general practice are presented . In 1967 , 7229 individuals aged between 40 and 64 years were r and omly allocated into either a  Screening or Control group .  The Screening group were invited to attend two screening sessions held about two years apart , while the Control group continued to receive conventional medical care . Both groups were then invited to undergo a health survey in 1972 - 73 which revealed no significant differences in morbidity between the two groups . Careful follow-up permitted detailed Screening-Control comparisons of various outcome measures -consultation and hospital admission rates , certified sickness absence from work , and mortality . Nine years after the initial screening , no significant differences were found between the two groups in any of the outcome measures . It is estimated that a similar screening programme for the entire middle-aged UK population would cost 142 million pounds at 1976 prices
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 .