External validation of pooled cohort equations using systolic blood pressure intervention trial data

OBJECTIVE: The risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is estimated using the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) Pooled Cohort Equations (PCEs). However, the accuracy of this tool remains controversial, particularly among patients who are recommended statin therapy according to the ACC/AHA guidelines. We performed external validation of PCEs among patients eligible for statin therapy using data from the systolic blood pressure intervention trial (SPRINT). RESULTS: Our study included 4057 patients from among the 9361 patients in SPRINT. The mean patient age was 64.5 years, and the median predicted 10-year risks of ASCVD were 17.2% and 12.3% for men and women, respectively. Over a median follow-up of 3.3 years, 133 primary events (including 23 cardiovascular deaths) were noted, whereas 304 events were predicted by the PCEs. The PCEs demonstrated poor calibration (Hosmer–Lemeshow test, p < 0.001) and overestimated the probability consistently. Additionally, they showed moderate discrimination [area under the curve: 0.65 (95% confidence interval, 0.60–0.69)]. This study demonstrates that PCEs might overestimate the risk of ASCVD in patients who are recommended statin therapy.