An observational study of how clinicians use cardiovascular risk assessment to inform statin prescribing decisions

Investigates how New Zealand primary care clinicians use cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment estimates to inform new statin prescribing. Tests the hypotheses that clinicians make decisions on initiating statins based on one, or some, of the following factors :1. whether the patient falls above or below the two five-year estimated CVD risk thresholds recommended by guidelines; 2. absolute CVD risk, but used as a continuous variable; 3. single risk factors relevant to the medication (ie, lipid measurements). Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.