- Briefly describe a specific question, or set of related questions, about a health care test or treatment that this program should consider.
Are clinical outcomes similar for patients when practice guidelines differ with regard to treatment of cardiovascular risk according to LDL targets If so what LDL levels are recommended to reduce cardiovascular risk
- Describe why this topic is important.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death globally where more people die annually from this ailment than from any other cause World Health Organization. It is generally accepted that cardiovascular disease can be prevented through behavioural modification to reduce risk factors such as reduction of tobacco use adopting a healthy diet and reducing obesity increasing physical activity and reducing the harmful use of alcohol. However it is unclear whether monitoring of cardiovascular biomarkers such as low density lipoprotein LDL can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.
Recent clinical practice guidelines from various national associations including the American College of CardiologyAmerican Heart Association 2012 the Canadian Cardiovascular Society 2013 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence from the United Kingdom 2010 and the National Heart Foundation of AustraliaCardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand 2012 have forwarded divergent opinions on the importance of LDL targets and appropriate LDL target levels for statin therapy. Of these societies the American College of CardiologyAmerican Heart Association recommends treating affected patients with statins without using LDL target levels. Given these discrepancies it is important to know whether treating to LDL target levels will improve patient outcomes in regard to reduction of cardiovascular events and if so what LDL levels are appropriate.
- How will an answer to your research question be used or help inform decisions for you or your group?
An answer to this question will help inform laboratory professionals in regard to appropriate clinical use of LDL measurements. In other words do current local practices amount to over or underutilization of LDL testing to improve patient care and what are the best LDL target levels to reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes. This will help with decisions regarding cost effectiveness in terms of patient outcomes and quality of laboratory services.
- Other Information About You: (optional)
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- Please choose a description that best describes your role or perspective: (you may select more than one category if appropriate)
- Clinical chemist laboratory professional
- If you are you making a suggestion on behalf of an organization, please state the name of the organization
- American Association for Clinical Chemistry EvidenceBased Laboratory Medicine Committee
- Please tell us how you heard about the Effective Health Care Program
- Ongoing collaboration with the American Association for Clinical Chemistry
