We are looking for people between 40 and 60 years of age who have a family history of premature cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis – blockages - in any artery.) Premature means that the disease developed in a near relative before he/she was 60 years of age. The screening tool we use is an absolute cardiovascular disease assessment computer model which is available free on line and is based on the gold standard Framingham Score. The risks measured are gender, age, blood pressure (systolic or top measurement), total cholesterol, high density lipid cholesterol, whether you smoke and are diabetic.
This screening tool can be accessed at
http://www.cvdcheck.org.auWe are enrolling those at intermediate risk to see if a risk management program will be effective in avoiding cardiovascular disease in this ‘at risk’ population. We are running the trial at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane and also at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne. The name of the trial is the IMPRESS study. The protocol has been approved by the University of Queensland and Metro South Ethics Committees in Brisbane and the Alfred Hospital Ethics Committee in Melbourne.
If you have accessed this tool and entered your cardiovascular risk measurements into the model, you can decide if you are at intermediate risk, and contact Julie Holliday at the University of Queensland, School of Medicine on (07) 3176 6146 OR the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne on 1800 670 695 to discuss enrolling in the trial.