Community pharmacist assessment of 10-year risk of coronary heart disease for union workers and their dependents

Objective: To determine 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risk for union workers and their dependents in a pharmacist-managed health screening program. Methods: Two local unions of plumbers and electricians contracted with a community pharmacy to provide health screening services for union workers and their dependents. Patients chose any one or any combination of three clinical tests: blood pressure, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. At the end of the screening, which took approximately 35 minutes, the participants received brief patient education from pharmacists and a printout of their results. Pharmacists provided the services based on their in-store screening experience and, before the screening, received training on 10-year CHD risk calculation and guidelines regarding cholesterol treatment. Framingham scoring was applied to calculate 10-year CHD risk for participants who chose all three clinical tests. Results: 265 patients (55.8% men, average age 57.7 years) participated in the screening program. Frequency of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors ranged from 25.5% (diastolic blood pressure) to 52.5% ( total cholesterol). Using Framingham scoring, 10-year CHD risk was calculated for 226 patients, with 119 (52.7%) patients having less than 10% risk with zero to one CVD risk factor, 73 (32.3%) having 10% to 20% risk with two or more CVD risk factors, and 34 (15%) having greater than 20% risk with two or more risk factors. Conclusion: Pharmacists provided intermediate- and high-risk participants with guideline-based recommendations such as referring them to physicians for further assessment, therapeutic lifestyle changes, and medication treatment. Community pharmacists were able to identify individuals with intermediate or high 10-year CHD risk. Based on 10-year CHD risk assessment, further pharmacist-managed interventions, such as a cardiovascular risk management program, can be conducted.