ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2016
Impact of the National Health Service Health Check on cardiovascular disease risk: a difference-in-differences matching analysis.
Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of general health checks in adults: A systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Delivery and impact of the NHS Health Check in the first 8 years: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Views of commissioners, managers and healthcare professionals on the NHS Health Check programme: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2017Pooled it
- Effectiveness of the population-based 'check your health preventive programme' conducted in a primary care setting: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Enhanced Invitations Using the Question-Behavior Effect and Financial Incentives to Promote Health Check Uptake in Primary Care.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2018Trial
- Exploring China's Clean Air Act and associated cardiovascular disease risk: a prospective, quasi-experimental, and causal inference modelling study.The Lancet. Planetary health · 2026Article
- Biomarkers of aging: from molecules and surrogates to physiology and function.Physiological reviews · 2025Review
- Association between the utilization of senior centers and participation in health check-ups.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Twenty years on from the introduction of the high risk strategy for stroke and cardiovascular disease prevention: a systematic scoping review.European journal of neurology · 2024Article
- NHS Health Check attendance is associated with reduced multiorgan disease risk: a matched cohort study in the UK Biobank.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Progression of stroke risk in patients aged <65 years diagnosed with atrial fibrillation: a cohort study in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Observational
- Understanding the risk of developing weight-related complications associated with different body mass index categories: a systematic review.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2022Review
- Prediction Model for Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus Using Korean Public Health Examination Data (2002-2017).Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Interventions in hypertension: systematic review and meta-analysis of natural and quasi-experiments.Clinical hypertension · 2022Article
- Priorities among effective clinical preventive services in British Columbia, Canada.BMC health services research · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe National Health Service Health Check program in England is the largest cardiovascular risk assessment and management program in the world. We assessed the effect of this program on modelled risk of cardiovascular disease, individual risk factors for cardiovascular disease, prescribing of relevant medications and diagnosis of vascular disease.
methodsWe obtained retrospective electronic medical records for a randomly selected sample of 138 788 patients aged 40-74 years registered with 462 English general practices participating in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink between 2009 and 2013. We used a quasi-experimental design of difference-indifferences matching analysis to compare changes in outcomes between Health Check attendees and nonattendees, with a median follow-up time of 2 years.
resultsOverall, 21.4% of the eligible population attended a Health Check. After matching (n = 29 672 in each group), attendees had a significant absolute reduction in modelled risk for cardiovascular disease (-0.21%, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.24% to -0.19%) and individual risk factors: systolic blood pressure (-2.51 mm Hg, 95% CI -2.77 to -2.25 mm Hg), diastolic blood pressure (-1.46 mm Hg, 95% CI -1.62 to -1.29 mm Hg), body mass index (-0.27, 95% CI -0.34 to -0.20) and total cholesterol (-0.15 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.18 to -0.13 mmol/L). Statins were prescribed for 39.9% of attendees who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The program resulted in significantly more diagnoses of selected vascular diseases among attendees, with the largest increases for hypertension (2.99%) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (1.31%).
interpretationThe National Health Service Health Check program had statistically significant but clinically modest impacts on modelled risk for cardiovascular disease and individual risk factors, although diagnosis of vascular disease increased. Overall program performance was substantially below national and international targets, which highlights the need for careful planning, monitoring and evaluation of similar initiatives internationally.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.