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 .
Multiphasic Health Checkup Evaluation: a 16-year follow-up.
The Multiphasic Health Checkup Evaluation Study , a long-term clinical trial , has been completed . A study group of 5156 men and women age 35 - 54 at entry was urged to have annual multiphasic health checkups ( MHCs ) for 16 years . A control group of 5557 comparable subjects was not so urged but was followed up in a comparable fashion . The mean and median number of MHCs per person were 6.8 and 6 , respectively , in the study group and 2.8 and 1 , respectively , in the control group . During 16 years the study group experienced a 30 % reduction ( p less than 0.05 ) in deaths from pre-specified " potentially postponable " causes , largely associated with lower death rates from colorectal cancer and hypertension . This reduction was most pronounced in the early years of the study . The two groups did not differ to a statistically significant degree in mortality from all other causes ( 84 % of total mortality ) or in total mortality . There was no difference in self-reported disability in the overall groups . In the setting of our prepaid health care plan where MHCs were already available on a voluntary basis , a program of urging middle-aged persons to undergo regular MHCs brought about a substantial reduction in mortality from preselected diseases
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 .