Knowledge gaps
The scientific statement lists several knowledge gaps and areas for more research. These include:
- Incorporating “net benefit” to identify the expected benefit of treatment recommendations based on an individual’s level of risk.
- Collecting more data from people of diverse race and ethnic backgrounds to better represent the increasing diversity in the United States. The number of Hispanic and Asian people included in the PREVENT datasets is lower than national estimates in the general U.S. population, so risk estimations in these populations may be less precise.
- Expanding the collection, reporting, and standardization of social determinants of health data, such as individual information rather than neighborhood information.
- Expanding risk assessment and prevention to earlier in life (childhood and/or adolescence) and in key life periods, such as during the peripartum period, since adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with increased CVD risk.
- Investigating whether predicting adverse kidney outcomes, particularly among people with and without type 2 diabetes, may further optimize cardiovascular risk prediction.
The scientific statement was prepared by the volunteer writing group on behalf of the AHA. Dr. Khan reports no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.