Indian Scientists Develop Non-Lab Screening Tool to Assess Risk of Heart Diseases With 85% Accuracy

According to researchers, cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs) have become the leading cause of deaths in India, putting a substantial clinical and economic burden on the health system.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) in the country’s Gujarat region have developed a new non-laboratory based screening tool which scored 85 percent accuracy in identifying people who might be at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases over the next ten years.

The scientists believe that their “Framingham risk assessment tool” will be adopted as a cost-effective and feasible alternative for large-scale screening in India to conduct medical exams for people aged above 30 who are at high risk of getting CVDs.

"The beauty of this tool is that you get an accurate percentage of risk and not some vague statement," Dr. Komal Shah, a biomedical scientist and associate professor at IIPH, told PTI news agency.

Dr. Shah called the innovative equipment a "great preventive measure", which makes it possible to identify CVD risk in people even at an early stage, helping them start primary medication as per clinical guidelines.

The risk score algorithm has been proven to be 85 per cent accurate on around 2,100 individuals aged above 30 who took part in tests.

The assessment was done on the basis of several parameters such as their Body Mass Index (BMI), age, sex, systolic blood pressure, and risk factors like hypertension, smoking, and diabetes.

According to the professor, the study also aims to incorporate additional indicators to obtain more accurate results.

"Cholesterol is not a great indicator for cardiac risks among Indians. We are more prone to low levels of good cholesterol. We are different from other populations. They have taken BMI as an indicator for the lab test. For us, it might be something else," Dr. Shah explained.

In order to evaluate the risk factor for CVD in different regions of India, the researchers are working on another investigation mainly centered on the residents of India's northeastern state of Assam. The study’s results will be published in a couple of months, Dr. Shah informed.