Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality accounting for 27% of deaths in the UK in 2014 and is a great cost to the UK economy, estimated to be £15.2 billion in 2015.1 Lipid modification is important as there is a positive correlation between the incidence of CVD and cholesterol levels.2 There is substantial evidence of benefit in prescribing statins to all patients for secondary prevention of CVD and for primary prevention in many of those patients with higher CVD risk.3 A Cochrane review in 2013 included 18 randomised controlled trials of statin prescribing for primary prevention and reported a reduction in all-cause mortality (odds ratio [OR] 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79 to 0.94), with the number needed to treat to prevent one death over 5 years being 96 and an acceptable cost-effectiveness.
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