This Big Data-Based Health Calculator Predicts Your Risk of Heart Disease

Jul. 23, 2018

Scientists have developed a novel online health calculator using Big Data, that can help people determine their risk of heart disease as well as their heart age. The calculator allows individuals to accurately predict their risk of hospitalization or death from cardiovascular diseases within the next five years.

For example, if their risk is five per cent, it means that five in 100 people like them will experience a serious cardiovascular event in the next five years. The calculator also provides heart age, an easy-to-understand measure of heart health.

“What sets this cardiovascular risk calculator apart is that it looks at healthy living, and it is better calibrated to the Canadian population,”Manuel said.  The process to build and validate the tool is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). In addition to personal use, policy-makers can also use the tool to calculate risk profiles for different populations.