Article

Health checks of the general population are widely used to prevent
cardiovascular diseases, but are the current clinical guidelines from the
European Society of Cardiology (ESC) suitable for screening the general population ?
Design A cross-sectional, population-based study of 978 men and women
aged 40-65 years examined in 2010-2011 was used to estimate the proportion of the
general Danish population fulfilling the criteria from the clinical guidelines
from the ESC on medical treatment and lifestyle intervention to prevent
cardiovascular disease. Methods The ESC criteria for medical treatment and
lifestyle intervention were applied to a general population using information on
previous cardiovascular diseases, known diabetes, urinalbumin, smoking, total
cholesterol, systolic and diabolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol and a multifactor risk score (SCORE). Results - A total of 12.5%
fulfilled the criteria for immediate medical treatment to prevent cardiovascular
diseases. Furthermore, 30.4% are recommended for medical treatment if an initial
lifestyle intervention fails summing to 42.9% eligible for medical treatment. The
majority (79%) of persons aged 60-65 years are eligible for medical treatment,
while close to half (44.9%) of all persons aged 50-59 years are recommended for
medical treatment. Conclusion - If ESC's guidelines were followed in Denmark, a
conservative estimate shows that medical preventive treatment would involve
nearly half the general population aged 40-65 years. The use of these guidelines
in screening of the general population can be questioned as realistic and suitable.

Langue : ANGLAIS