Impact of risk factors on cardiovascular risk: a perspective on risk estimation in a Swiss population.

Introduction: In models and scores for estimating cardiovascular risk (CVR), the relative weightings given to blood pressure measurements (BPMs), and biometric and laboratory variables are such that even large differences in blood pressure lead to rather low differences in the resulting total risk when compared with other concurrent risk factors. We evaluated this phenomenon based on the PROCAM score, using BPMs made by volunteer subjects at home (HBPMs) and automated ambulatory BPMs (ABPMs) carried out in the same subjects.

Methods: A total of 153 volunteers provided the data needed to estimate their CVR by means of the PROCAM formula.