The Healthy Heart Study: Investigating different ways of explaining cardiovascular disease risk to help people understand their risk and improve their lifestyle

Presentation of CVD risk assessment results as either 5-year absolute risk of a heart attack/stroke or heart age, in one of three visual formats (text only, text + bar graph, text + line graph showing projected risk over age): Arm 1: percentage, text Arm 2: percentage, text and bar graph Arm 3: percentage, text and projected risk graph Arm 4: heart age, text Arm 5: heart age, text and bar graph Arm 6: heart age, text and projected risk graph The CVD risk assessment is conducted via computer, based on the 5-year Framingham risk equation used in Australian CVD prevention guidelines. The equation uses age, gender, current smoking/diabetes status, systolic blood pressure and total/HDL cholesterol ratio values to estimate the probability of a CVD event (e.g. heart attack or stroke) over the next 5 years. The assessment is based on participant responses for each risk factor via an online survey, and/or Australian averages for their age/gender if they indicate that they do not know their risk factor values. The presentation formats are based on the following: Percentage: the current absolute risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 5 years Heart age: the age at which a person of the same gender with 'ideal' risk factors (non-smoker, non-diabetic, systolic blood pressure equal to 120 mmHg, total/HDL cholesterol ratio equal to 4) would reach the current absolute risk result Text: a brief description of the current and 'ideal' result, and how the current result could be improved if applicable Percentage example: Your risk of a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years is 11%. If you stopped smoking and had lower levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, your risk would be 3%. You can reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol by quitting smoking, improving your diet and increasing physical activity. Heart age example: Your heart age is 74, 24 years older than you. If you stopped smoking and had lower levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, your heart age would be 50, the same as your current age. You can reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol by quitting smoking, improving your diet and increasing physical activity. Bar graph: displays the current result and the 'ideal' result as separate bars on the same graph Projected risk graph: displays the current result and the 'ideal' result as separate lines on the same graph, showing how both will increase with age up to 74 years (the maximum age in the Framingham risk model)