10-year risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease among Korean adults: Findings from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2010

•31.3% of Koreans had a 10-year risk for an ASCVD event of ≥ 7.5%.•27.1% of Koreans had a 10-year risk for a coronary heart disease event of ≥ 10%.•Statin benefit groups were 32.8% of Koreans using the ACC/AHA Guideline.•Lipid-lowering drug was eligible for 11.9% of Koreans using the ATP III guideline.

BackgroundThis study examined the distribution of the 10-year risk for development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD), and the proportion of participants eligible for lipid management, in the Korean population.MethodsThe risk was estimated using the Pooled Cohort Equations for non-Hispanic Whites and the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III equations. Eligibility for lipid-lowering treatment was assessed using the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Blood Cholesterol Guideline and the ATP III recommendation. Complex sampling design and area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) were used.ResultsAmong 7594 ASCVD-free Korean adults, aged 40-79 years, 31.3% (men, 44.1%; women, 19%) had a 10-year risk for an ASCVD event of ≥ 7.5%, and 27.1% (men, 39.4%; women, 15.2%) had a 10-year risk for a CHD event of ≥ 10%. These proportions differed according to age groups, ranging from 6.1 to 91.9% and 8.7 to 58.7% for patients in their 40s-70s, using the ASCVD and CHD risk estimations, respectively. Overall, 78.7% of individuals remain in the same risk stratum. Those eligible for lipid management included 32.8% of the participants using the ACC/AHA Guideline and 11.9% of those using the ATP III recommendation. In discriminating ASCVD, AUCs for the ASCVD risk assessment method and the CHD risk assessment method were 0.70 and 0.64, respectively (P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe distribution of 10-year ASCVD and CHD risk was different according to the risk assessment methods.