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Indicator

The percentage of patients with type 1 diabetes who are aged over 40 years currently treated with a statin.

Indicator type

General practice indicator suitable for use in the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

This document does not represent formal NICE guidance. For a full list of NICE indicators, see our menu of indicators

To find out how to use indicators and how we develop them, see our NICE indicator process guide

Rationale

This indicator aims to reduce cardiovascular risk and prevent future cardiovascular events. Statin therapy helps to lower the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood and is associated with a reduction in myocardial infarction (MI), coronary heart disease and stroke.

Specification

Numerator: The number of patients in the denominator currently treated with a statin.

Denominator: The number of patients with type 1 diabetes who are aged over 40 years.

Calculation: Numerator divided by the denominator, multiplied by 100.

Definitions: N/A

Exclusions: None.

Personalised care adjustments or exception reporting should be considered to account for situations where the patient declines, does not attend or if treatment with a statin is not appropriate.

Expected population size:

National Diabetes Audit data for 2022 to 2023 shows that 0.3% of people in England 40 years or over have a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes: 26 patients for an average practice with 10,000 patients. To be suitable for use in QOF, there should be more than 20 patients eligible for inclusion in the denominator, per average practice with 10,000 patients, prior to application of personalised care adjustments.