Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a prevalent issue in Germany, with new data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) highlighting the burden and prevention potential of cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity continue to drive public health concerns across all age groups. The RKI recently published their study in the Journal of Health Monitoring, drawing attention to the importance of CVD prevention.

In Germany, physicians use a variety of risk scores (SCORE2, arriba score, PROCAM) to assess a patient’s risk of CVD. But these assessments require laboratory parameters, such as cholesterol and blood pressure, making these methods inaccessible for self-assessments. The study therefore used a recently developed disease risk test by the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE). This test is based on questions about age, sex, lifestyle, and family history of CVD.

It was assumed that people who believe they have higher risk of getting the disease are more likely to take preventative measures. The study determines a 10-year risk of stroke or heart attack based on the DIfE test and compares it to the participant’s self-perceived risk. Other studies have already established that self-assessment of risk is often misjudged and underestimated when it comes to CVD. The result of the RKI study showed that the higher risk is, the lower is the proportion of participants who perceived themselves as having almost no or only a low risk of CVD. And half of those who are at an increased or at high risk of CVD according to the test perceive themselves as having no or only low risk. This disconnect between perception and actual risk is concerning and calls for strategies to improve CVD prevention and education on the disease.

The EU-funded VALIDATE project, is aiming to tackle the clinical side of this challenge. We are integrating cardiovascular profiles into a real-time, AI-powered decision support tool for acute stroke treatment. This tool aims improve treatment strategies for ischemic stroke by focusing on intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT). It will support physicians by providing additional datapoints to decide on the treatment with the best patient-outcome 90 days after the stroke event. The VALIDATE risk-score and outcome prediction is personalised and based on clinical records, imaging, and lab data.