Your chances of suffering an early heart attack or stroke depend on a variety of factors, many of which are under your control. The best time to identify your risk factors and change your behavior to lower your risk is when you are young. You can significantly affect your future health and quality of life if you adopt healthy behaviors. To help identify your risk factors, select the response for each risk category that best describes you.

1.	Gender and Age	Select... Female age 55 or younger; male age 45 or younger Female over age 55; male over age 45
2.	Heredity/Family History	Select... Neither parent suffered a heart attack or stroke before age 60. One parent suffered a heart attack or stroke before age 60. Both parents suffered a heart attack or stroke before age 60.
3.	Smoking	Select... Never smoked Quit more than 2 years ago and lifetime smoking is less than 5 pack-years* Quit less than 2 years ago and/or lifetime smoking is greater than 5 pack-years* Smoke less than 1/2 pack per day Smoke more than 1/2 pack per day Smoke more than 1 pack per day
4.	Environmental Tobacco Smoke	Select... Do not live or work with smokers Exposed to ETS at work Live with smoker Both live and work with smokers
5.	Blood Pressure (the average of the last three readings)	Select... 120/80 or below 121/81 - 130/85 Don't know blood pressure 131/86 - 150/90 151/91 - 170/100 Above 170/100
6.	Total Cholesterol	Select... Lower than 190 190 - 210 Don't know 211 - 240 241 - 270 271 - 300 Over 300
7.	HDL Cholesterol (the average of the last three readings)	Select... Over 60 mg/dl 55 - 60 Don't know HDL 45 - 54 35 - 44 25 - 34 Lower than 25
8.	Exercise	Select... Exercise three times a week Exercise once or twice a week Occasional exercise less than once a week Rarely exercise
9.	Diabetes	Select... No personal or family history One parent with diabetes Two parents with diabetes Non-insulin-dependent diabetes Insulin-dependent diabetes
10.	Body Mass Index (kg/m2)	Select... ≤23.0 23.0-24.9 25.0-28.9 29.0-34.9 35.0-39.9 ≥40
11.	Stress	Select... Relaxed most of the time Occasionally stress and anger Frequently stressed and angry Usually stressed and angry
CVD Risk Assessment Score:

Risk:

*Pack-years can be calculated by multiplying the number of packs you smoked per day by the number of years you smoked. For example, if you smoked a pack and a half a day for 5 years, you would have smoked the equivalent of 1.5 × 5 = 7.5 pack-years.

Whatever your score, examine your responses carefully to identify your CVD risk factors. Consider planning a behavior change strategy to lower your risk by changing your lifestyle.

INTERNET ACTIVITY Use the World Wide Web to learn more about one of the controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Choose one of the risk factors from the quiz in this worksheet--preferably one for which you have a high score. Find out more about the risk factor by visiting one of the sites listed in your text or by doing a Web search. Risk factor: Site(s) visited (URL): What did you learn about the risk factor? Did you identify any strategies you can apply to your daily life? Any changes you can make in your current behavior to control or lessen the risk factor? List at least three practical strategies for reducing your risk.

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