Correctness of Cardiovascular Risk Perception in Primary Prevention Care: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Italian Study

Background: The assessment of individual risk for cardiovascular disease is recommended in primary prevention; however, people may not have a correct perception of their personal cardiovascular risk. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare cardiovascular risk perception with cardiovascular real risk among participants in Italian population screening events. Methods: This is a cross-sectional multicenter study. Men and women without cardiovascular events aged 40 and 69 years were included. For each participant, sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, cardiovascular risk perception was measured by one 5-point Likert question, and cardiovascular real risk was calculated using the SCORE2 algorithm. Results: A total sample of 286 participants was analyzed. The mean age was 53 years, and 69% were female; the larger part of participants demonstrated a low/moderate cardiovascular real risk (67.8%) and perceived the same level of cardiovascular risk perception (91.2%) as well. Most participants with a "high" or "very high" cardiovascular real risk (32.2% of the sample) reported an incorrect cardiovascular risk perception (91% and 94%, respectively). Incorrectness in cardiovascular risk perception was significantly (P < .001) associated with sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, education, employment status) and clinical features of participants (smoking habit, arterial pressure, or lipid abnormalities). Conclusions: In a sample of the Italian general population, an incorrect cardiovascular risk perception is associated with sociodemographic characteristics or clinical features that increase cardiovascular real risk. Community cardiovascular screening should comprise the evaluation of cardiovascular risk perception; future research might be directed to explore more in depth its determinants and consequences.