The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a final research plan to study nontraditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
During the systematic review, the USPSTF plans on analyzing how nontraditional risk factors may improve health outcomes such as cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and improve measures of calibration, dissemination and risk reclassification. The researchers also plan on seeing if nontraditional risk factor assessments are associated with adverse events.
The research plan outlined five questions that the USPSTF plans on answering in its systematic review:
- Compared with the Pooled Cohort Equations tool or Framingham risk factors alone, does risk assessment of asymptomatic adults using nontraditional risk factors—followed by treatment specific to risk level—lead to reduced incidence of cardiovascular events (e.g., myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident) and/or mortality?
- Does use of nontraditional risk factors in addition to traditional risk factors to predict cardiovascular disease risk improve measures of calibration, discrimination, and risk reclassification?
- What are the harms of nontraditional risk factor assessment?
- Does treatment guided by nontraditional risk factors in addition to traditional risk factors lead to reduced incidence of cardiovascular events (e.g., myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident) and/or mortality?
- What are the harms of treatment guided by nontraditional risk factors?
The USPSTF posted a draft research plan on its website from June 11 to July 8 and received comments from 31 organizations or individuals.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.