Benefits and pitfalls of cardiovascular risk assessment.

One of the most important challenges facing modern preventative medicine is the problem of how best to identify and treat those at highest risk of developing cardiovascular disease, for whom appropriate management (ranging from lifestyle modification to therapeutic regimens) can improve both duration and quality of life. The use of risk assessment can contribute greatly to identifying those individuals who will benefit from risk-reducing interventions. However, assessment tools must always be used with care because some are not sufficiently accurate, while most systems are subject to an ageist bias because they do not take into account the benefits of long-term treatment or risk. Nonetheless, assessment techniques can provide a more logical approach to patient management, predict short-term benefits, and provide accurate data to substantiate a physician's clinical judgement.