BMJ  2006;332 (17 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7555.0-b

Guidelines on statin treatment should focus on high risk patients

Canadian, US, and European societies' guidelines on statin treatment for preventing deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) could improve their effectiveness or efficiency by focusing on recommendations for people with the highest risk of CHD. Manuel and colleagues (p 1419) modelled outcomes of screening and treatment recommendations of six national and international guidelines on the Canadian population, and found that they varied considerably. The Australian and British guidelines were the most effective, potentially avoiding the most deaths over five years. The New Zealand guideline was the most efficient, avoiding almost as many deaths, but recommending treatment to the fewest people.

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Effectiveness and efficiency of different guidelines on statin treatment for preventing deaths from coronary heart disease: modelling study

Douglas G Manuel, Kelvin Kwong, Peter Tanuseputro, Jenny Lim, Cameron A Mustard, Geoffrey M Anderson, Sten Ardal, David A Alter, and Andreas Laupacis
BMJ 2006 332: 1419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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