The Comparability of Lipid-based and Body Mass Index-based Cardiovascular Disease Risk Scores: Using the Rwanda 2012-2013 Non-communicable Diseases Risk Factors Survey Data.

Background: In Rwanda, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) ranked second of the most common cause of death in 2016. CVD risk score tools have been recommended to identify people at high risk for management. Objective: To assess the comparability of body mass index (BMI)-based and lipid-based CVD risk scores in Rwandan population. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted on 4185 study participants extracted from the dataset of Rwanda 2012-2013 non-communicable diseases risk factors survey. Individual CVD risk scores were calculated using both BMI-based and lipid-based algorithms, one at a time. Spearman rank's coefficient and Cohen's Kappa coefficient were used to compare the two tools. Results: About 63.5% of participants were women. There was a significant positive correlation between BMI-based algorithm and lipid-based algorithm vis-à-vis a 10-year CVD risk prediction (Spearman rank correlation coefficients > 0.90, p<0.001) considering either men, women or overall study participants. There was a moderate agreement between BMI-based and lipid-based algorithms vis-à-vis CVD risk characterization, kappa = 0.52; p-value p<0.001 considering either overall study participants or men and kappa = 0.48; p-value p<0.001 considering women. Conclusion: The findings from this study suggest the use of BMI-based algorithm, a cost effective tool compared to lipid-based tool, can be alternatively used in resource-limited settings.