Perceive and Calculated CV Risk

Cardiovascular prevention guidelines use estimated 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk to guide treatment decisions and engage patients in shared decision-making. Research has focused on refining the accuracy of these CV risk calculators for different populations, relatively little has been done to understand how patients perceive their own ASCVD risk. Accurate perception of a patient's risk by both the patient and the doctors is important because this is an important determinant of health-related behaviour. Patients often show optimistic bias when considering their own CV risk and consistently underestimate it.

We aim to determine patient perceived versus actual risk of ASCVD in a Chinese population. We aim to better understand the degree to which patients underestimate or overestimate their ASCVD risk and whether patients are better or worse at estimating their ASCVD risk relative to their peers of the same age and sex. Finally, we aim to evaluate patients willingness to follow guideline recommended CV prevention and specifically lipid-lowering therapy.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 40 years and above
• Consent to complete questionnaire
• Lipid profile within 12 months

Exclusion criteria

• Known ASCVD defined as history of coronary heart disease (i.e. obstructive coronary disease, prior myocardial infarction, or prior coronary revascularization); cerebrovascular disease (i.e. stroke or transient ischemic attack); and peripheral arterial disease (i.e. obstructive peripheral disease, prior vascular amputation or prior revascularization)
• Other chronic illness with life-expectancy <12 months