Unrecognized Cardiovascular Abnormalities Detected Through a Community Cardiovascular Screening Program

Abstract

Objective: Self-referral community cardiovascular screening programs (CCSPs) have a potential to reduce outcome events through early detection of disease. This study evaluated the characteristics of a population that could predict a positive test. Materials and Methods: Participants who completed a cardiovascular screening protocol were compared. The screening protocol included a blood pressure (BP), Doppler ankle brachial index (ABI) testing, a limited carotid sonogram, a limited aortic sonogram, electrocardiogram (ECG), and limited transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). Results: Screenings were performed on 205 participants (58% female, 68 ± 9 years of age). Sixty-seven (34%) participants were abnormal in at least one of the following screening tests: ABI (2%), carotid sonogram (6%), aortic sonogram (3%), ECG (11%), and TTE (22%). Although 60.5% of the participants reported recent symptoms, there were no differences in normal or abnormal results of participants presenting with or without symptoms ( P = .06). Income was not a predictor of abnormal test results (odds ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.55–0.97; P = .19). Multivariate analysis demonstrated, when controlling for age greater than 75 years, that participants taking BP medication was the only variable that predicted a positive test result. Conclusion: One-third of patient results were abnormal, regardless of symptoms or lack thereof, suggestive of subclinical disease. Further large-scale studies would demonstrate the role of CCSPs in risk stratifying participants.