Nearly 15% of young adults in the US have a high 30-year risk for cardiovascular disease, a new study has shared.
Researchers from Northwestern University have found that one in seven adults between the ages of 30 and 59 years are likely to develop cardiovascular disease.
Lead author Professor Sadiya Khan said: “The findings emphasise the importance of calculating both short-term and long-term risk for cardiovascular disease in young adults in primary care settings.
“While short-term or 10-year risk has been our standard of care, this analysis reflects an important shift in preventive cardiology and helps to raise public awareness that risk for heart disease can be detected even in young adults.”
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In the US, roughly 28 million adults are living with cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association has reported.
Professor Khan said: “Preventative measures currently rely on short-term risk assessments over a 10-year time span, which does not reflect a younger person’s risk of developing heart disease long-term.”
During the study, the team of researchers calculated the 10-year and 30-year cardiovascular disease risk of 9,700 participants with the American Heart Association’s Predicting Risk of CVD EVENTs (PREVENT) model.
Depending on their risk scores, the participants were divided into one of three groups: low short-term risk paired with low long-term risk, low short-term risk alongside high long-term risk or high short-term risk.
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Most of the participants had a low 10-year cardiovascular disease risk, however one in seven had a high 30-year risk, the findings have revealed.
Professor Khan said: “This helps demonstrate the importance of calculating both long-term and short-term risk when seeing a patient in primary care to communicate a more comprehensive assessment of the person’s risk of developing heart disease.
“If a younger person has a higher-risk 30-year cardiovascular disease score, earlier interventions and emphasis on preventive measures should be considered to potentially improve cardiovascular disease outcomes.”
Read the study in full in the journal JAMA.
