‘It’s just statistics … I’m kind of a glass half-full sort of guy’: The Challenge of Differing Doctor-Patient Perspectives in the Context of Electronically Mediated Cardiovascular Risk Management

Best practice guidelines for the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease recommend that management decisions be informed by estimation of a patient’s ‘absolute risk’ of a cardiovascular event over time. Such a risk calculation is based on a combination of non-modifiable factors such as age and gender and modifiable factors that include blood pressure, lipids, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), tobacco smoking, alcohol use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and psychosocial stress.