The aim of this study is to provide an easy tool to identify patients with a high cardiovascular risk, especially those qualifying for lipid-lowering treatment. The decision to treat with lipid-lowering drugs was assessed with five new risk algorithms. The Five Risk algorithm (5R) takes into account male gender, high systolic blood pressure, high total cholesterol, smoking and high blood sugar as independent risk factors. Patients with three independent risk factors qualify for lipid-lowering treatment. Compared to the Framingham Risk Score, the 5R has a Kappa coefficient of 0.62. Compared to the SCORE, the Six Risk algorithm (6RDF) has a Kappa coefficient of 0.70. The 6RDF uses only four independent risk factors (male gender, high systolic blood pressure, high total cholesterol and smoking) but having diabetes or a family history of premature coronary heart disease are exclusion criteria for which treatment with lipid-lowering drugs is always indicated.

Department of General Practice Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussels Belgium

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