Observational studyThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2021
NHS Health Checks: an observational study of equity and outcomes 2009-2017.
Observational study in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of general health checks in adults: A systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Group-delivered interventions for lowering blood pressure in hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Primary Care Health Checks at Assessing Cardiovascular Risks among Ethnic Minorities in the UK: A Systematic Review.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Pooled it
- A service evaluation of the uptake and effectiveness of a digital delivery of the NHS health check service.BMJ open · 2024Trial
- Association between utilization of community- based chronic disease examination services and disease control outcomes among patients with hypertension and diabetes.BMC public health · 2026Article
- A mixed method evaluation using the RE-AIM framework of a student-led community-based cardiovascular disease screening clinic in an urban community setting.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Impact and importance of a new men's health strategy in England.Nature reviews. Urology · 2025Article
- Article
- Barriers and Facilitators of NHS Health Checks in Socioeconomically Deprived Communities in the North East of England: A Qualitative Study With Peer Researchers.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Peripheral artery disease recognition, diagnosis, and management in general practice in the Republic of Ireland and England: an online survey.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Comparing screening based on the NHS Health Check and Polypill Prevention Programmes in the primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes.Journal of medical screening · 2024Article
- Atrial fibrillation: comorbidities, lifestyle, and patient factors.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2024Review
- NHS Health Check attendance is associated with reduced multiorgan disease risk: a matched cohort study in the UK Biobank.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Sociodemographic characteristics and longitudinal progression of multimorbidity: A multistate modelling analysis of a large primary care records dataset in England.PLoS medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- What factors influence differential uptake of NHS Health Checks, diabetes and hypertension reviews among women in ethnically diverse South London? Cross-sectional analysis of 63,000 primary care records.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- Lifestyle advice for hypertension or diabetes: trend analysis from 2002 to 2017 in England.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- NHS Health Check programme: a rapid review update.BMJ open · 2022Review
- Interpretation of ethnicity-specific data: increased risk versus increased utilisation.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe NHS Health Check cardiovascular prevention programme is now 10 years old.
aimTo describe NHS Heath Check attendance, new diagnoses, and treatment in relation to equity indicators. DESIGN AND
settingA nationally representative database derived from 1500 general practices from 2009-2017.
methodThe authors compared NHS Health Check attendance and new diagnoses and treatments by age, sex, ethnic group, and deprivation.
resultsIn 2013-2017, 590 218 (16.9%) eligible people aged 40-74 years attended an NHS Health Check and 2 902 598 (83.1%) did not attend. South Asian ethnic groups were most likely to attend compared to others, and females more than males. New diagnoses were more likely in attendees than non-attendees: hypertension 25/1000 in attendees versus 9/1000 in non-attendees; type 2 diabetes 8/1000 versus 3/1000; and chronic kidney disease (CKD) 7/1000 versus 4/1000. In people aged ≥65 years, atrial fibrillation was newly diagnosed in 5/1000 attendees and 3/1000 non-attendees, and for dementia 2/1000 versus 1/1000, respectively. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and CKD were more likely in more deprived groups, and in South Asian, Black African, and Black Caribbean ethnic groups. Attendees were more likely to be prescribed statins (26/1000) than non-attendees (8/1000), and antihypertensive medicines (25/1000 versus 13/1000 non-attendees). However, of the 117 963 people with ≥10% CVD risk who were eligible for statins, only 9785 (8.3%) were prescribed them.
conclusionUptake of NHS Health Checks remains low. Attendees were more likely than non-attendees to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and CKD, and to receive treatment with statins and antihypertensives. Most attendees received neither treatment nor referral. Of those eligible for statins, <10% were treated. Policy reviews should consider a targeted approach prioritising those at highest CVD risk for face-to-face contact and consider other options for those at lower CVD risk.
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What Socratic holds
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 Socratic graph.