September 21st, 2010 Simplified Framingham Model May Miscalculate Risk for Millions
SAN FRANCISCO — September 9, 2010 — A method that is widely used to predict the risk of a major coronary event may over- or under-estimate risk for millions of patients in the United States, according to a study appearing online first in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The method in question is the simplified version of the so-called Framingham model, which is used to estimate a patient’s 10-year risk of a myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or other coronary event based on risk factors such as age, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and smoking.
