Identifying Opportunities for Impact of Community-Based Pharmacist-Led Biometric Health Screenings on ASCVD Risk

Introduction: Community-based pharmacists are positioned uniquely to assist in the early detection of underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD) which affects approximately 50% of adults in the United States. Organizations utilize community-based pharmacists to conduct annual biometric health screenings to help employees identify health risks previously undetected. The goal of this study was to evaluate how community-based pharmacists could impact lifetime atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk for a large population.

Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of annual pharmacist-led 15-minute biometric health screening data from a large regional community-based pharmacy chain. Employees between the ages of 20 and 79 who had completed at least three biometric health screenings between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2020 were included. Incomplete biometric health screening records were excluded. To calculate lifetime ASCVD risk and identify perceived gaps in care, prescription fill history of study participants was used. The pharmacists did not make clinical interventions; however, education was provided with the information found.

Results: A total of 10,001 patients were included. Median baseline ASCVD risk was 1.5% and increased to 1.8% (p < 0.001). Additionally, 1,187 patients with an elevated ASCVD risk ≥ 7.5%, showed statistically significant improvements in blood pressure, body mass index, and cholesterol.

Conclusions: Improvements for high-risk patients were seen in several biometric health screening parameters including blood pressure, body mass index, and cholesterol. Community-based pharmacists were well positioned to intervene clinically to support reduction of ASCVD life-time risk.