Risk assessment is an important part of treating and managing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Through risk assessment, doctors gather information about a person’s overall health status, their heart health, and how PAH affects their daily lives. If you’re living with PAH, it’s helpful to be familiar with the different risk assessment factors. Knowing what to expect at your doctor visits can help you better understand your disease and how to manage it.

Doctors typically conduct a risk assessment for people with PAH during or soon after their initial diagnosis. Organizing PAH into low-risk, intermediate-risk, or high-risk categories helps doctors make a prognosis (prediction of the course of disease), estimate life expectancy with PAH, and decide on the best treatment course.

At follow-up appointments, doctors use risk assessments to keep track of disease progression and symptoms, understand if treatments are working, and evaluate if different or additional therapies may work better.

If you or a loved one are living with PAH, this quiz can help you test your knowledge of the risk assessment factors and further your understanding.

Your doctor may perform other tests and exams in addition to those discussed in this quiz. The topics discussed here are the main factors measured in PAH risk assessment.