QRISK2 international app released for the iPhone/iPad

PA 41/12

A new smartphone app designed to identify patients at risk of heart disease has been launched by researchers at The University of Nottingham and medical software company Clinrisk Ltd.

The new QRISK2 app is the latest idea of award-winning epidemiologist and GP, Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox from the University’s School of Community Health Sciences. The new app allows the user to work out their risk of heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years by answering some simple questions. These include age, height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking history as well as socio-economic factors and other diseases. The app is also available on iTunes for 69p.

The QRISK 2 algorithm has been developed by doctors and academics working in the UK National Health Service and is based on routinely collected data from many thousands of GPs across the country who have contributed to the QResearch database for medical research. The QRISK2 algorithm is updated annually each April, and refitted to the latest data to remain as accurate as possible. QRISK2 has been subject to rigorous testing and independent validations undertaken by the Oxford University, which has demonstrated it as fit for purpose.

Launching the new app, Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox said: “QRISK2 is now used widely across the world. In the UK QRISK2 is included in national guidelines from NICE and the Department of Health as well as being included in the GP quality and Outcomes Framework.

“It has become the gold standard risk assessment tool for many pharmacies and GP surgeries. Once downloaded, the new QRISK2 app can be used in any setting without the need for a live WIFI or 3G connection. This helps meets the needs of hospital doctors who need to use QRISK2 during clinics and ward rounds.

“It will also extend its availability to other health care settings where health checks are increasingly being undertaken such as leisure centres, rugby clubs, barbers, faith settings, mobile health check buses and the workplace. We hope that widening access to QRISK2 in this way will increase the health benefits which can result from modifying lifestyle and other factors to reduce heart disease risk, the nation’s biggest killer.”

QResearch is the largest clinical research database in the world in partnership with leading clinical GP systems provider EMIS. The database is now used by researchers throughout the UK and, increasingly, worldwide. There have been more than 100 research publications using its data so far.“