Cardiovascular risk estimation by professionally active cardiovascular nurses: results from the Basel 2005 Nurses Cohort.
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.
Scholte op Reimer
Wilma J M
WJ
Department of Cardiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Thoraxcenter, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. w.sholteopreimer@erasmusmc.nl
Moons
Philip
P
De Geest
Sabina
S
Fridlund
Bengt
B
Heikkilä
Johanna
J
Jaarsma
Tiny
T
Lenzen
Mattie
M
Martensson
Jan
J
Norekvål
Tone M
TM
Smith
Karen
K
Stewart
Simon
S
Strömberg
Anna
A
Thompson
David R
DR
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