Framingham Risk Calculator
10-year heart disease risk from the Framingham point tables for men and women aged 30 to 74.
What it does
The Framingham Heart Study has tracked a town's worth of hearts since 1948, and its risk equations turned that data into the most widely used heart disease score of the last several decades. The version here is the point-based Wilson score, which grades six familiar factors and reads your 10-year coronary heart disease risk off a table.
Enter age, sex, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, and diabetes. The tool adds the points, reports where your total lands on the published tables, and sets your number against the average person of the same age and sex.
The defaults describe a 55-year-old man with 220 mg/dL cholesterol, 50 mg/dL HDL, 140 mmHg systolic pressure, and no smoking or diabetes: 4 + 1 + 0 + 2 = 7 points, a 13 % ten-year risk, against an average of 16 % for his age band. The metric mirror, 5.69 and 1.29 mmol/L, gives the identical score. The same profile for a woman reads 10 points and a 10 % risk, against an average of 12 %.
The points, tables, and average-risk figures come straight from the Framingham Heart Study's published risk functions and the original Circulation paper by Wilson and colleagues. The score is a population estimate for a predominantly white Massachusetts cohort, which the study itself notes, so treat it as context rather than a personal diagnosis.
How to use
- Choose US or metric units; the tool keeps the two mirrors in step.
- Pick your sex, then enter your age in years.
- Enter total and HDL cholesterol from a recent lipid panel.
- Enter systolic pressure and answer the smoking and diabetes questions.
- Read the 10-year risk, the points behind it, and how you compare with your age band.
Formula
- age points
- 0 to 7 for men and -9 to 8 for women, rising with each five-year band from 30 to 74.
- cholesterol points
- -3 to 3 by total cholesterol band, scored from 160 mg/dL (4.14 mmol/L) upward.
- HDL points
- 2 down to -2 for men and 4 down to -3 for women; higher HDL scores negative points.
- blood pressure points
- 0 to 3 by systolic band from 120 mmHg up.
The published model scores the higher of your systolic and diastolic readings through a single blood pressure category; this tool asks for systolic, so if your diastolic pressure runs higher than your systolic category implies, your true score could sit one step up. Diabetes is worth 2 points for men and 4 for women, smoking 2 for both. The average-risk column is the expected 10-year risk for the same sex and age band in the cohort, not a target.
Worked example
Example: 55-year-old man, cholesterol 220, HDL 50, pressure 140
Defaults: man, age 55, total cholesterol 220 mg/dL, HDL 50 mg/dL, systolic 140 mmHg, non-smoker, no diabetes.
- Age 55 to 59: 4 points.
- Total cholesterol 220 mg/dL sits in the 200 to 239 band: 1 point.
- HDL 50 mg/dL sits in the 50 to 59 band: 0 points.
- Systolic 140 mmHg sits in the 140 to 159 band: 2 points.
- Total 7 points: the men's table reads 13 %, against 16 % for the average man this age.
- The same profile for a woman scores 7 + 1 + 0 + 2 = 10 points: a 10 % risk, average 12 %.
Reference table
| Points | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3 % | 2 % |
| 2 | 4 % | 3 % |
| 4 | 7 % | 4 % |
| 6 | 10 % | 5 % |
| 8 | 16 % | 7 % |
| 10 | 25 % | 10 % |
| 12 | 37 % | 13 % |
| 14 | 53 % or more | 18 % |
| 16 | 53 % or more | 24 % |
Limits
- Published for ages 30 to 74 without existing heart disease.
- Estimates coronary heart disease risk, not stroke or all heart events.
- Medications and family history are not part of the score.
- Cohort-based: the study itself notes its estimates come from a predominantly white Massachusetts population.
Common mistakes
- Mixing units: mg/dL values entered into the mmol/L fields score nonsense.
- Using LDL cholesterol with this total cholesterol point table.
- Ignoring a diastolic reading in a higher category than systolic.
- Reading the score as a diagnosis instead of a population estimate.
- Applying it to someone outside the 30 to 74 age window or with existing heart disease.
Try it yourself
Quick checks. Answers sit tucked under each question.
Woman, 55, cholesterol 220, HDL 50, pressure 140, no smoking, no diabetes?
10 points on the women's table: a 10 % ten-year risk, against 12 % average for her age band.
Woman, 40, cholesterol 180, HDL 60, pressure 115, no smoking, no diabetes?
Her total lands at -6, the bottom of the table: 1 % ten-year risk, about 2 % for the average woman this age.
Man, 74, cholesterol 300, HDL 30, pressure 200, diabetic smoker?
19 points and the risk tops out at 53 % or more, against a 30 % average.
Questions
What does the Framingham risk score predict?
The chance of developing coronary heart disease over the next 10 years: heart attack, coronary death, and related events, not all cardiovascular disease.
Why only ages 30 to 74?
The published equations and tables were derived for that range, so the tool refuses to extrapolate.
Does it use total cholesterol or LDL?
This is the total cholesterol version of the point tables; the study also published an LDL variant that is not scored here.
Why did my 10-year risk change with my HDL?
Higher HDL scores negative points, lowering your total, which is exactly how the Wilson tables were built.
Is 13 % a lot?
Compare it with the average for your age and sex on the same page: the score is only meaningful next to that baseline.
Can I lower my score?
Blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL, and smoking are all modifiable, and the score drops as they improve; the numbers are worth revisiting with your clinician.
Sources
- Framingham Heart Study: Coronary Heart Disease (10-year risk)
- Wilson PW et al., Prediction of coronary heart disease using risk factor categories, Circulation