[Validation of a method for calculating the cardiovascular risk in primary care]

To design a simple method to calculate overall cardiovascular risk (CVR), which could be used in Primary Care (PC).

A descriptive study to correlate and validate our method (called CVR-PC) using the Framingham, the British Regional Heart study and the Spanish Society to fight against Arterial Hypertension methods.

Urban health centre.

670 patients of both sexes chosen at random in clinics, to apply a programme of preventive measures.

The age, gender, blood pressure, tobacco consumption, Cholesterolaemia and Glycaemia were determined for each patient. A multiplicative memory method was designed to obtain the index of cardiovascular risk without recourse to electronic support. Figures obtained were correlated with those from the equation of the Framingham study. The Pearson r values were: 0.85 for the series total (0.85 for men and 0.83 for women). The cut-off point for high/low-moderate risk was identified. From this 76.3% sensitivity and 95.7% specificity were obtained.

The method studied shows adequate correlation as well as high sensitivity and specificity when compared with the Framingham method. It can be useful in Primary Care clinic for identifying individuals at high cardiovascular risk.