HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury

Heart risk assessment

Ngā aromatawai manawa

A heart risk assessment is also called a cardiovascular risk assessment. It's an estimate of how likely you are to have a heart attack or stroke within the next five years.

If you have a 10% risk, it means we would expect 10 out of 100 people with the same risk as you to have a heart attack or stroke within the next 5 years.

The factors used to work out your heart risk are your age, sex, ethnicity, medical history (such as past or current heart problems, diabetes, stroke and so on) and your family medical history. Your cholesterol levels, smoking history and blood pressure are also used.

When you should have a heart risk assessment

The age you should start having heart risk assessments depends on your sex, ethnicity and other risk factors.

Risk factors	Men	Women
You do not have any risk factors.	45 years	55 years
You're Māori, Pacific or South Asian (Indian – including Fijian Indian, Sri Lankan, Afghani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Pakistani or Tibetan)	30 years	40 years
You have any of the following risk factors: you smoke you have a parent, brother or sister who has diabetes or high cholesterol or has had a heart attack or stroke you have gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or prediabetes your weight is very unhealthy you have kidney disease you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol you've previously had a heart problem or a stroke you have a heart condition such as atrial fibrillation.	35 years	45 years
You have diabetes (type 1 or 2).	As part of your yearly diabetes review
You have schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder or another severe mental illness.	25 years

When you've reached the age to have heart risk assessments, you should have one every five to 10 years. But if you're found to have a high risk, you'll need to have a yearly health check.

My Heart Check tool

My Heart Check is a free online heart health check developed by the Heart Foundation. It's designed for Kiwis and based on New Zealand data.

My Heart Check can estimate your heart age compared to your actual age, as well as giving you an estimate of your risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 5 years.

The free online tool works best for people aged 30 to 75. You can still use it if you are older or younger, but your result may be less accurate.

Use My Heart Check to:

• get an idea of your heart health
• get tips for how to improve your heart health
• talk about your heart health with a health professional.

My Heart Check will ask you for information such as:

• your age
• your height and weight
• your cholesterol levels
• your blood pressure
• your medical history.

If you aren't sure about some of this information, you can leave it out, as the tool can base your results on an estimate.

This tool is not recommended if you've had a heart attack, angina, some other heart conditions or a stroke. These conditions mean you're already at a high risk.

If the results show you're at an increased risk, you'll be advised to see your GP or nurse.

GP or nurse

You can also do a heart risk assessment with your GP or nurse. They can calculate your heart risk based on your age, medical history and other risk factors. They can also advise how often you should have a heart risk assessment.

Self-care for heart health

Knowing your risk can help you to decide to make some positive lifestyle changes. You have an important role to play in your heart health. While you cannot change some risk factors, you can change others. The choices you make every day do matter. Over time, what you eat, drink, do and how you live can improve your blood pressure and cholesterol and decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Even a small change can have a positive impact on your risk of heart attack and stroke. The more healthy changes you make, the better it is for your heart health. Changes you can make include:

• if you smoke, stop smoking
• move more
• eat and drink for a healthy heart
• reach a healthy weight
• manage stress.

Getting help with your heart health

As well as lifestyle changes, if you're at an increased risk of heart attack or stroke, you may need medication to reduce your risk. This may include medication to lower your cholesterol and blood pressure.

Your GP or nurse can recommend the best treatments for you.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

• Heart Foundation – Your heart

  Detailed information about heart conditions, how they're treated and how you can improve your heart health.

Content shared between HealthInfo Canterbury, KidsHealth and Health Navigator NZ as part of a National Health Content Hub collaborative. Last reviewed December 2021.

Sources

Page reference: 836343

Review key: HIHRA-836343