During Phase I, a new appraisal named CardioRisk was developed. The Phase I prototype version contained eight major self-reported risk factors. CardioRisk predicted the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a 12-year period using an equation based on recent accelerated failure time models from the Framingham Heart Study. The purpose of Phase II was to thoroughly test and refine the prototype instrument. The Phase II analyses were designed to assess the psychometric properties of CardioRisk, to evaluate its utility as judged by patients, and to determine whether the instrument changed perceptions of personal CVD risk. These results were compared to data for other appraisals to determine whether CardioRisk outperformed comparable products.