Heart disease risk assessment doesn’t depend on a bunch of fancy and expensive tests, cardiologists said Monday. A basic assessment that includes cholesterol level, blood pressure, age, sex, family history and whether an individual smokes or has diabetes is the strongest tool a doctor can use in predicting the likelihood of heart disease in people who don’t have any symptoms of disease.

The findings were released Monday in a joint statement from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Assn. The statement includes specific guidelines for how people without symptoms should be assessed for heart disease and is published online Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.