Aims: To re-estimate the SCORE risk function using individual data on risk factors and coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence from the Dutch Cardiovascular Registry Maastricht (CAREMA) population-based cohort study; to evaluate changes that may improve risk prediction after re-estimation; and to compare the performance of the resulting CAREMA risk function with that of existing risk scores.Methods and results: The cohort consisted of 21,148 participants, born in 1927-1977 and randomly sampled from the Maastricht region in 1987-1997. After follow-up (median 10.9 years), 783 incident CHD cases occurred. Model performance was assessed by discrimination and calibration. The additional value of including other risk factors or current risk factors in a different manner was evaluated using the net reclassification index (NRI). The c statistic of the re-estimated SCORE model was 0.799 (95% CI 0.782-0.816). Separating the total/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio into total and HDL cholesterol levels did not improve the c statistic (p = 0.22), but reclassified 6.0% of the participants into a more appropriate risk category (p < 0.001) compared with the re-estimated model. The resulting CAREMA function reclassified 28% of the participants into a more appropriate risk category than the Framingham score. Compared with the SCORE functions for high- and low-risk regions, the NRIs were 28% and 35%, respectively, which can largely be explained by the difference in outcome definition (CHD incidence vs. CHD mortality).Conclusion: In this Dutch population, a re-estimated SCORE function with total and HDL cholesterol levels instead of the cholesterol ratio can be used for the risk prediction of CHD incidence.

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doi.org/10.1177/1741826711410256, hdl.handle.net/1765/68021
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Merry, A., Boer, J., Schouten, L., Ambergen, H. W., Steyerberg, E., Feskens, E., … van den Brandt, P. (2012). Risk prediction of incident coronary heart disease in the Netherlands: Re-estimation and improvement of the SCORE risk function. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 19(4), 840–848. doi:10.1177/1741826711410256