My NHS Health Check results and QRISK (Cardiovascular Disease Calculator)
When you have an NHS health check, we put together the information we take from you about your lifestyle including weight, alongside your blood results and medical conditions. A calculation then enables us to estimate the chances of you developing “cardiovascular disease” over the next ten years. Cardiovascular disease includes angina, heart attacks, and strokes. The calculator does not distinguish between mild or temporary conditions such as a transient ischaemic attack (TIA, often called a ‘mini stroke’) and a more serious or fatal event. It is calculated using the QRisk calculator.
What does my risk mean?
A risk of 10% means that if we checked this on 100 people who are very similar to you in ten years’ time, ten of those people will have developed some sort of cardiovascular disease – anything from a mild, temporary problem to a fatal heart attack or stroke. 90 will have not developed cardiovascular disease.
The 10% risk level is important as below this, you are considered at low risk, and above this moderate or high risk.
It is recommended that individuals with a moderate risk (10%-20%) make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk and consider taking a medication called a statin.
Individuals at high risk (20% +) will be more likely to benefit from statin medication in addition to making lifestyle changes.
The decision on whether to take a statin will depend on your personal attitude to risk and taking medication. It is important to remember that taking a statin is not a substitute for making lifestyle changes – the latter will always bring the highest benefits to your health.
Statins and ‘number needed to treat’
Some people find it helpful to know how many people need to a take a treatment for one person to benefit – this is called the ‘number needed to treat’. It can be helpful information when deciding on whether to take a statin for the rest of your life.
To prevent one “cardiovascular disease event” (eg heart attack or stroke) in people with a risk of 10%, 167 would have to be treated with a statin for 5 years. For a risk of 20%, the number needed to treat is 67. This means that many people who take a statin derive no benefit, but may experience side effects. Crucially, you may never know if you personally have benefitted or not. Imagine you opt for taking a statin and in the next 10 years don’t have a cardiovascular event – would the non-statin-taking version of you have had something like this happen, or not?
This is why it is important to carefully consider whether to start a statin. There are patient decision aids available on the internet, and various other resources that help to explore whether a statin is right for you. Please see links below, note that these may not remain up to date:
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Statin Decision Aid page here:
More information about cholesterol and statins:
Common concerns patients have about statins explored:
If the result of your NHS health check shows you are at moderate or high risk, or you would like to discuss this further, please make an appointment with one of the practice team.