New PREVENT Equations Enhance Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and Personalize Hypertension Treatment
TL;DR
The PREVENT equations offer clinicians a competitive edge by providing more accurate CVD risk assessments to personalize treatment and optimize patient outcomes.
The PREVENT equations use clinical factors like BMI, blood pressure, and social deprivation index to calculate 10- and 30-year cardiovascular disease risk estimates.
This tool helps personalize preventive care, leading to longer, healthier lives by accurately identifying those who benefit most from treatment.
PREVENT is the first risk tool combining cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic health measurements using data from over 6 million diverse adults.
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The Predicting Risk of cardiovascular disease EVENTs (PREVENT™) equations deliver more precise risk estimates and support tailored treatment approaches for adults with hypertension, according to a new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association's journals Circulation and Hypertension, and in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology. This document complements the recently published 2025 AHA/ACC High Blood Pressure Guideline that newly recommends using PREVENT equations to personalize care.
Developed by the American Heart Association in 2023, the PREVENT™ equations serve as a clinical tool to estimate 10- and 30-year risk for total cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and heart failure in adults aged 30–79 without prior CVD history. The PREVENT™ calculator incorporates clinical factors such as body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes status, and adverse social factors—including a zip code-based social deprivation index—to estimate individual CVD risk. Built on data from over 6 million diverse U.S. adults, PREVENT™ offers broader applicability than the previously recommended Pooled Cohort Equations, which only estimated ASCVD risk.
The scientific statement details evidence supporting the 2025 High Blood Pressure Guideline's recommendation to use PREVENT™-CVD equations for guiding treatment decisions. It introduces a new risk threshold recommending that individuals with stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure 130–139 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure 80–89 mm Hg) and a PREVENT™-CVD 10-year cardiovascular disease risk score of ≥7.5% should initiate blood pressure medication alongside lifestyle modifications.
Population-level implications show that the number of people recommended for antihypertensive therapy under the 2025 Guideline remains similar to the 2017 Guideline, addressing earlier concerns about potential reductions in treatment recommendations. The enhanced accuracy of PREVENT™-CVD equations enables identification of individuals most likely to benefit from treatment while avoiding unnecessary medication in lower-risk patients.
The statement provides practical guidance on integrating PREVENT™ equations into holistic risk assessment to personalize care and develop comprehensive healthcare plans. Daniel W. Jones, M.D., FAHA, chair of the 2025 high blood pressure guideline writing committee, emphasized that "The new PREVENT equations are based on more modern, more contemporary datasets, therefore, they are a better tool than the past risk models." The equations incorporate information about kidney disease and metabolic disease, both linked to blood pressure levels, offering more comprehensive and accurate risk predictions.
Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, chair of the scientific statement writing group, noted that "The PREVENT equations are the first risk tool that combines cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic health measurements to support primary prevention-focused treatment decisions." This integration represents the current best science for rigorously estimating CVD risk, with the primary goal of tailoring preventive care to achieve marked improvements in patient outcomes and longer, healthier lives.
Curated from NewMediaWire
