• Home
  • Health Screenings and Risk Assessments
    In This Section:
    • Overview of Screening Tests
    • Overview of Risk Assessments
      • Depression
      • Diabetes
      • Heart Disease
      • Drug/Alcohol Abuse
      • Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Coronary Heart Disease Risk Assessment

 

Coronary heart disease in the leading cause of death in the U.S. In 2006, 1.2 million Americans had a coronary attack.

There are many risk factors for heart disease. Some risk factors you can control and others you can not. For example, smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity are things that you can change and can reduce your chances of developing heart disease.

Other factors, like your age, sex, and heredity or race you can not change. Studies have shown that:

  • Older people who suffer from coronary heart disease are more likely to die from their heart attacks
  • Men are more likely than women to suffer from a heart attack, and
  • African Americans are more likely than Whites to have high blood pressure and a higher rate of heart disease.

To see if you are at risk for heart disease, answer the questions in this risk assessment. Remember, only your health care provider can tell you if you have heart disease. This risk assessment can only help you see if you have a problem with heart disease. Talk to your health care provider about the results of your risk assessment and any questions you have about heart disease.

  1. Are you a man older than 45 or a woman older than 55 or already starting menopause?

    Yes No

  2. Do you smoke, live or work with people who are smoking in your presence everyday?

    Yes No

  3. Is your total cholesterol level 240 mg/dl or higher?

    Yes No Unsure

  4. Is your HDL (good cholesterol) less than 40 mg/dL?

    Yes No Unsure

  5. Is your blood pressure 140/90 mm/Hg or higher?

    Yes No Unsure

  6. Do you engage in less than a total of 30 minutes of physical activity on most days?

    Yes No

  7. Do you have a family history of coronary heart disease in first-degree relatives (male relatives under age 55; female relatives under age 65)?

    Yes No

  8. Are you considered 20 pounds or more overweight for your height and build?

    Yes No

  9. Have you been diagnosed with diabetes or have you had a fasting blood sugar of 126mg/dl or greater?

    Yes No

  10. Have you had a heart attack, stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) or do you have carotid artery disease or peripheral artery disease?

    Yes No



Sources:
American Heart Association
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

This assessment was reviewed June 2006 by Roger S. Blumenthal, M.D., F.A.C.C., Associate Professor of Medicine/Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD.

This content has been reproduced with the permission of HealthAtoZ (www.healthatoz.com)