Cardiovascular Risk Score among Adolescents - Review of Its Methods and Outcome

Abstract

World Health Organization reported that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death, which has taken approximately 17.9 million lives across the globe. Current studies identified high prevalence and severity of metabolic syndrome in children which is likely increase the incidence of premature death and contribute to the statistical number of cardiovascular disease and related events worldwide. Therefore, measurement of the cardiovascular risk score among the children, specifically adolescent need to be implemented in order to modify the risk and improve the disease outcomes. This review aims to identify the assessment methods and the implications. Full-text article on case control, cohort and cross-sectional studies published from 1st Jan 2012 until 30th September 2022, were searched using PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus. Teenagers or adolescent age range from 11 to 19 years were included in this study. The cardiovascular risk and score assessment methods as well as the outcomes of the assessment were included in this study. 8 out of 40 articles met the eligibility criteria and were selected. Two out of eight studies classify the risk factors into categories. One study classified the participants into high, medium and low risk group while another study categorised them into fit and unfit. Most studies agreed that assessment of CVD risk should focus on multiple risk factors instead of individual risk. Two studies suggest increase physical activities among children can reduce the obesity. Another study recommended family-based intervention to prevent CVD risk factors particularly obesity. In conclusion, predicting CVD from childhood and adolescence required a multifactorial assessment. Majority of study showed that multiple risk assessment is required to predict cardiovascular events and early interventions are needed in children who pose higher risk compared to others