An estimated 15 million U.S. adults are at risk for heart failure, according to a study published Dec. 17 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The figure was calculated using the American Heart Association's PREVENT risk equation, according to a Dec. 16 news release from the University of Pittsburgh.
Released in November 2023, the PREVENT equation can estimate an individual's 10- and 30-year risks for heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
Researchers from institutions across the U.S. used the equation and data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to identify the prevalence of heart failure and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Here are seven things to know from their findings:
- The NHNES data used for the study included information from 4,872 participants between 2017 and March 2020. Participants were ages 30 to 79 and had no known cardiovascular disease.
- The PREVENT calculator found 15 million U.S. adults have an elevated risk of developing heart failure within 10 years. Elevated risk was defined as higher than 10% for the study.
- Heart failure risk was correlated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk.
- Elevated blood pressure and weight contributed to both heart failure and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk.
- High cholesterol was not predictive of heart failure, though heart failure was correlated with older age.
- Four million U.S. adults have an elevated heart failure risk but a low atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. Of those 4 million, high blood pressure and obesity were the most predictive of an individual having an increased heart failure risk.
- "The next step needed is clinical practice guidelines that provide frameworks for primary care physicians and other clinicians on how to use these calculators to customize patient care," Timothy Anderson, MD, a Pittsburgh-based UPMC physician and co-author of the study, said in the new release.
Read the full study here.