QRISK has been used in the general practice setting since 2007. It was upgraded to QRISK2. It is a 10 year cardiovascular risk tool. There is a proposal to upgrade to a newer version of the algorithm called QRISK3. This has been outlined in a recent paper published by Julia Hippisley-Cox, professor of clinical epidemiology and general practice1,Carol Coupland, professor of medical statistics in primary care and Peter Brindle, evaluation and implementation theme lead, NIHR CLAHRC West. The paper was published in the 23rd May 2017 issue of the BMJ. BMJ 2017; 357 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j2099
Currently QRISK 2 includes the ages of 25 to 84 and includes
- Ethnicity
- Deprivation (the Townsend score)
- Systolic blood pressure
- BMI
- Total cholesterol/HDL ratio
- Smoking
- Family history of coronary artery disease in a first-degree relative aged less than 60
- Type I diabetes
- Type II diabetes
- Treated hypertension
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Atrial fibrillation
- Chronic kidney disease (stage 4 or 5)
QRISK 3 will include the following additional factors:
- Chronic kidney disease (stage 3, 4, or 5)
- Systolic blood pressure variabilit
- Migraine
- Corticosteroid use
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Atypical psychotics
- Severe mental illness,
- Erectile dysfunction in men
- HIV/AIDS.
Overall the calculator performed as the previous version. The new added risk factors were found to increase risk by about 10%, the only exception being HIV/AIDS.
You can use the new risk calculator here: https://qrisk.org/three/