Applying the Sheffield tables to data from general practice.

Lowering cholesterol with drugs of the statin class reduces the risk of a coronary event. Recent guidelines recommend use of the 'Sheffield tables' to detect individuals who might be offered drug treatment in whom the annual absolute risk of a first coronary event is > or = 3%. Using these tables in a general practice cohort aged 35-68 years, we found that 3% of men and 0.05% of women were above the treatment threshold. Smokers aged over 50 accounted for 85% of people recommended for statin therapy. Almost all smokers would fall below the treatment threshold if they quit smoking.