Risk Assessment and Management

Assessing risk is a crucial step in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, including dyslipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension. Guidelines for care include recommendations to utilize risk calculators to establish future risk, identifying additional risk-enhancing factors that are not included in risk calculators, and sharing these estimates with patients. Helping patients understand their potential risk of future events and how to lower that risk, including medication selection and dosing, can be challenging, but the use of effective tools and shared decision-making allows for greater patient understanding.