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High Risk Example
Read through the following 3 cases to see various ways you might use the risk assessment tool in different situations.
High Risk Case 1
Thomas is a male patient aged 69 with 135/79 mm Hg blood pressure, total serum cholesterol of 5.5 mmol/L, HDL cholesterol of 0.9 mmol/L, and no history of diabetes, smoking or family CVD. He has a healthy BMI of 22, and is very physically active as an avid bushwalker.
Feedback
The risk is high (17%), so both blood pressure and cholesterol medication are recommended in the guidelines. Aspirin is not recommended for CVD prevention in Australian guidelines.
Having multiple mild risk factors may accumulate to produce a high risk of a heart attack or stroke overall, which means that patients who seem quite healthy may actually benefit from prevention medication. A combination of factors like being male, older, having diabetes, smoking, elevated cholesterol or blood pressure can produce a high risk result, even if the person is very fit or follows a particularly healthy diet.
You may have a bias into thinking that they have a lower risk than what they actually have…that’s where using the calculator is helpful.
Open Peer Discussion- Clinical resources
- Case studies
- Peer discussion
Peer discussion
High Risk Case 1
Thomas is a male patient aged 69 with 135/79 mm Hg blood pressure, total serum cholesterol of 5.5 mmol/L, HDL cholesterol of 0.9 mmol/L, and no history of diabetes, smoking or family CVD. He has a healthy BMI of 22, and is very physically active as an avid bushwalker.
Feedback
The risk is high (17%), so both blood pressure and cholesterol medication are recommended in the guidelines. Aspirin is not recommended for CVD prevention in Australian guidelines.
Having multiple mild risk factors may accumulate to produce a high risk of a heart attack or stroke overall, which means that patients who seem quite healthy may actually benefit from prevention medication. A combination of factors like being male, older, having diabetes, smoking, elevated cholesterol or blood pressure can produce a high risk result, even if the person is very fit or follows a particularly healthy diet.