Consequences of using different methods to assess cardiovascular risk in primary care

Results. The proportion of high-risk patients according to the three equations and excluding diabetic patients was 13.5%, 11.4% and 7.1%, respectively, and 20.2%, 25.7% and 29.2%, respectively when including diabetic patients. The prevalence of candidates for lipid lowering treatment according to European guidelines and ATPIII guidelines were 28.8% and 39.3%, respectively. A 49% disagreement with a Kappa of –0.1, and a 37% disagreement with a Kappa of 0.08 were observed when comparing candidates identified for lipid lowering treatment and patients actually receiving that treatment, according to ATPIII and SCORE guidelines, respectively. Conclusion. Our results suggest important clinical and economic consequences when comparing European guidelines or ATPIII guidelines for the treatment of dyslipidemic patients in general practice.