Publication type
Conference Paper
Series
Understanding Society Scientific Conference 2015, 21-23 July 2015, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Author
Publication date
July 21, 2015
Summary
Long-term statin therapy is at the forefront of pharmacological measures to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and premature mortality. The threshold for prescribing statins in general practice was lowered from a 20% to 10% 10-year risk of a cardiovascular event in 2014 and the present study looks at the changes in the characteristics of the specific target groups with data collected in 2010-2012 in the general household population. Individual 10-year cardiovascular event risk was estimated using the office-based Framingham equations for 30-74 year olds in Understanding Society, who took part in a health assessment and had data on height, weight and three blood pressure measurements (N=11374). The study also collected data on diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and a wide range of socio-economic factors. 11% of 30-74 year olds had ≥20% CVD risk and did not take statins for primary prevention (11.1% 95% CI 10.5; 11.7). According to the new 10% threshold the percentage eligible for treatment has increased to 29% (95% CI 27.8; 29.5). The characteristics of those with unmet statin needs were at the same time changing towards younger age groups and those in work, e.g. for men there was a nearly five-fold increase among the 45-54 year olds (from 12% to 56.8%) and a seven-fold increase for women among the 55-64 year age group (from 4.5% to 31.1%). The paper discusses the likely implications of the new guidelines for target patient groups and primary care providers in improving early diagnosis and adherence to long-term therapies.
Subjects
Link
Cid:523144