Simple and adaptable R implementation of WHO/ISH cardiovascular risk charts for all epidemiological subregions of the world

Abstract

The World Health Organisation and International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment charts have been implemented in many low- and middle-income countries as part of the WHO Package of Essential Non-Communicable Disease (PEN) Interventions for Primary Health Care in Low-Resource settings. Evaluation of the WHO/ISH cardiovascular risk charts and their use is a key priority and since they only exist in paper or PDF formats, we developed a simple R implementation of the charts for all epidemiological subregions of the world. The main strengths of this implementation are that it is built in a free, open-source, coding language with simple syntax, can be modified by the user, and can be used with a standard computer.