From protocol to practice: translating the clinical data into clinical practice

Clinicians must be prepared to treat individual patients based on evidence-based risk assessments. However, ethnic minorities, the elderly, and women have been underrepresented in large-scale studies, so data to support clinical decisions for patients in these groups may be lacking. One notable example is the Framingham Heart Study, with a study population consisting of a nearly homogeneous population from one small American town. Clearly, future studies must include more representative samples from these populations. Meanwhile, the Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines should be applied across the board.