title: Cardiovascular risk estimation by professionally active cardiovascular nurses: results from the Basel 2005 Nurses Cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nurses play a key role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and one would, therefore, expect them to have a heightened awareness of the need for systematic screening and their own CVD risk profile. The aim of this study was to examine personal awareness of CVD risk among a cohort of cardiovascular nurses attending a European conference.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of the 340 delegates attending the 5th annual Spring Meeting on Cardiovascular Nursing (Basel, Switzerland, 2005), 287 (83%) completed a self-report questionnaire to assess their own risk factors for CVD. Delegates were also asked to give an estimation of their absolute total risk of experiencing a fatal CVD event in the next 10 years. Level of agreement between self-reported CVD risk estimation and their actual risk according to the SCORE risk assessment system was compared by calculating weighted Kappa (kappa(w)).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 109 responders (38%) self-reported having either pre-existing CVD (only 2%), one or more markedly raised CVD risk factors, a high total risk of fatal CVD (> or =5% in 10 years) or a strong family history of CVD. About half of this cohort (53%) did not know their own total cholesterol level. Less than half (45%) reported having a 10-year risk of fatal CVD of <1%, while 13% reported having a risk > or =5%. Based on the SCORE risk function, the estimated 10-year risk of a fatal CVD event was <1% for 96% of responders: only 2% had a > or =5% risk of such an event. Overall, less than half (46%) of this cohort's self-reported CVD risk corresponded with that calculated using the SCORE risk function (kappa(w)=0.27).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most cardiovascular nurses attending a European conference in 2005 poorly understood their own CVD risk profile, and the agreement between their self-reported 10-year risk of a fatal CVD and their CVD risk using SCORE was only fair. Given the specialist nature of this conference, our findings clearly demonstrate a need to improve overall nursing awareness of the role and importance of systematic CVD risk assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Thoraxcenter, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. w.sholteopreimer@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Wilma J M
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Scholte op Reimer
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moons
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Geest
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fridlund
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heikkilä
authors.forename: Tiny
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jaarsma
authors.forename: Mattie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenzen
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martensson
authors.forename: Tone M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Norekvål
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strömberg
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000150:complications; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000458:organization & administration; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires