Researchers develop computer model to help doctors with statin therapy

A new tool to help treat cardiometabolic conditions with greater certainty is ready to be tested in a practice environment.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and Mayo Clinic developed a computer model that combines individual patient data with existing formulas that help predict the probability of stroke or heart attack over an interval of time, which physicians can use to determine when to begin using statin therapy in diabetic patients.

"A web-based decision-support tool would be the most feasible way to implement what we have done," says researcher Brian Denton, PhD, an assistant professor at North Carolina State's Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering and lead author of a June study published in Medical Decision Making. "A publicly available tool would allow physicians and patients to use the tool in the office environment and/or outside of the office."