Purpose: The Italian national prevention plan 2005-2008 included 10-year cardiovascular risk (10-CR) assessment of the general population aged 35-69 years using the CUORE project risk score. General practitioners (GPs) were encouraged to collect data on risk factors and 10-CR and to contribute to the Cardiovascular Risk Observatory (CRO). The aim is to demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of 10-CR assessment as a first step to implement primary preventive actions at the individual level.
Methods: Data were collected using CUORE.EXE software, easily and freely downloadable by GPs from the CUORE project website (www.cuore.iss.it). CRO provides a web platform to analyse and compare data on 10-CR and risk factors at regional and national levels with the aim of supporting health policy decision processes.
Results: From January 2007 to May 2010, 2,858 GPs downloaded cuore.exe; 139,269 CR assessments on 117,345 persons were sent to CRO. CR mean was 3.0% in women, 8.3% in men; 30% of men and 65% of women were at lower risk (CR < 3%), 9.2% of men and 0.4% of women were at high risk (CR ≥ 20%). Among those with at least two risk assessments (n = 5,948), 8% (95% CI 7-9%) shifted to a lower risk class after 1 year. Systolic blood pressure mean levels decreased by 1.6 mmHg (95% CI 1.2-2.1 mmHg), diastolic blood pressure by 0.9 mmHg (95% CI 0.5-1.3 mmHg), total cholesterol by 5.6 mg/dl (95% CI 4.3-6.8 mg/dl), and smokers prevalence by 3.5% (95% CI 2.5-4.6%); high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in women by 1 mg/dl (95% CI 0.5-1.4 mg/dl).
Conclusions: Data demonstrate that 10-CR assessment can be the first step to implement preventive actions in primary care.