Lipid lowering to prevent cardiovascular disease

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has assessed this shared decision aid against the following quality criteria. The quality criteria are based on national and international standards for shared decision aids.

Criterion	Assessment	More information
Process
1.Has information available about the updating policy.	Met	If a major piece of research is published which should be practice changing, we may consider updating our content to include this, but generally prefer evidence to have gone through an independent, high quality systematic review process.
2.Provides an indication that the shared decision aid is underpinned by evidence.	Met	Source and strength of evidence set out - NICE CG181
3.Provides information about the levels of uncertainty around event or outcome probabilities, e.g. by giving a range or by using phases such as ‘our best estimate is.	Met	eg - Acute hepatitis and liver failure associated with statins are so rare it is uncertain whether there is a causal effect
4.An equality impact assessment has been carried out to identify impact on inequalities groups.	No Info	Strongly based on NICE GLs so source info subject to EQIA during development
Content
1.Provides a production or publication date.	Met	About' section dated Feb 2023
2. Provides information about country of publication.	Met	UK
3. Describes the health condition or issue for which the decision is required.	Met	Treatment with statins vs no treatment for prevention of cardiovascular events
4.States the decision that needs to be considered.	Met	Treatment with statins vs no treatment for prevention of cardiovascular events
5. Provides clear information about the potential consequences, benefits and harms of each option	Met	“combined cardiovascular events” - fatal and non-fatal angina, MI, TIA and stroke / myalgia, liver disease, T2D, kidney function impaired
6.Displays and frames options in a consistent, balanced and impartial way - for example, using the same sized font and neutral language	Met	Cates plots and tables for benefits - harms set out in more narrative fashion - including data from observations studies as well as RCTs
7. Uses everyday language that is widely understood, or simpler language where necessary.	Not met (reading age over 14 for aid to be explained by HCP)	Not tested - given the technical nature of the text (particularly for medication interventions) reading age unlikley to be under 14
8. Shows that effort has been made to present quantitative information about risks, benefits, chance and uncertainty in a way that is understandable to people with low levels of numeracy	Met	Yes - cates plots for benefits - table format for harms
9. Is presented in a digital format that complies with accessibility standards,	Not met	Accessible design principles employed