Qured Health Scores

What it measures

QRISK4 estimates your 10-year risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke, expressed as a percentage. It combines a comprehensive set of personal, clinical, and lifestyle factors - including age, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol, neighbourhood deprivation, family history, and the presence of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease - to produce an individualised risk estimate grounded in real-world UK health data.

Why it matters

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of premature death in the UK, responsible for around 160,000 deaths per year. Yet the majority of events are preventable with early identification and timely intervention. QRISK4 is specifically designed to identify risk at a stage when meaningful action can still change the trajectory.

QRISK was developed from the QResearch database, one of the largest primary care datasets in the world, derived from millions of patient records from UK GP practices. This makes it specifically calibrated to UK population risk, rather than extrapolated from international studies. It is the risk tool recommended by NICE and embedded throughout NHS clinical practice, used to guide decisions about statin prescribing and preventive treatment.

A score above 10% is the threshold typically used in NHS practice to consider preventive treatment. Understanding your score - even if it is low - provides a clear baseline against which future improvements can be measured, and motivates the lifestyle changes most likely to shift it.

What it measures

The Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) quantifies the distribution and function of visceral fat — the fat stored deep within the abdomen, surrounding your internal organs. Unlike subcutaneous fat (the fat beneath the skin), visceral fat is metabolically active and directly influences hormonal signalling and inflammation. The VAI combines waist circumference, BMI, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol into a single validated score.

Why it matters

Visceral fat is now understood to be far more clinically significant than body weight or BMI alone. It acts almost like an endocrine organ — secreting hormones and inflammatory proteins (adipokines) that can drive insulin resistance, raise blood pressure, promote atherosclerosis, and increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is why two people with identical BMIs can have very different health trajectories depending on how their fat is distributed.

The VAI was originally validated by Amato et al. (2010) and has since been assessed across multiple international cohorts. Elevated VAI has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. Importantly, it identifies dysfunction in fat tissue even in individuals who appear to be within a normal weight range — capturing a phenomenon sometimes called "metabolically obese normal weight."

Because the VAI draws on both body measurements and blood lipid data, it offers a far richer picture of metabolic risk than any single marker.

What it measures

QDiabetes estimates the likelihood that you will develop type 2 diabetes over the next 10 years, expressed as a percentage. It draws on a wide range of factors - including BMI, family history, ethnicity, deprivation, blood pressure, smoking status, and clinical conditions - to produce a personalised risk estimate validated in UK populations.

Why it matters

Type 2 diabetes affects more than 4.4 million people in the UK, with a further estimated 850,000 living with the condition undiagnosed, and millions more in a pre-diabetic state. It is one of the most significant drivers of premature ill-health, associated with substantially increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, visual loss, and nerve damage, yet it is largely preventable, particularly in the earlier stages of risk.

The critical insight behind QDiabetes is that risk can be estimated and acted upon years before diabetes develops. Landmark trials including the Diabetes Prevention Programme and the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study demonstrated that lifestyle interventions can reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 58% in high-risk individuals. The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme uses risk stratification tools including QDiabetes to identify and refer individuals before they become ill.

QDiabetes was developed using the QResearch database of UK primary care records, and is endorsed by NICE and NHS England as the preferred risk prediction algorithm for type 2 diabetes. Knowing your score gives you the opportunity to take meaningful preventive action at the point when it is most effective.

What it measures

Your Mental Wellness score is calculated using a validated seven-item questionnaire that assesses positive psychological wellbeing — including emotional resilience, optimism, energy, and the ability to engage meaningfully with others and with life.

Why it matters

Mental and physical health are deeply intertwined, and no account of overall wellness is complete without capturing psychological state. Poor mental wellbeing is independently associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, weakened immune function, poorer sleep quality, and elevated levels of chronic stress hormones such as cortisol - all of which have downstream effects on physical health. Furthermore, the brain is your biggest metabolic organ, and poor metabolic function can have a direct impact on your brain function.

The mental health assessment we use is deliberately framed around positive wellbeing rather than the absence of symptoms. This reflects growing evidence that flourishing - not merely the absence of depression or anxiety - is what predicts long-term health outcomes. A score in the lower range signals that psychological resources may be depleted, increasing vulnerability to burnout and physical illness alike.

Our questions are based on a scale which has been extensively validated across UK adult populations, including occupational settings. It is widely used by NHS commissioners and Public Health England to monitor population mental wellbeing, giving it strong normative benchmarks against which your score can be meaningfully interpreted.

What it measures

The Triglyceride to HDL Ratio compares the level of triglycerides (fats circulating in your blood) against HDL cholesterol — often called "good" cholesterol because it helps remove other forms of cholesterol from your arteries. A lower ratio indicates a healthier lipid profile; a higher ratio signals increased cardiovascular and metabolic risk.

Why it matters

The TG:HDL ratio has emerged as a powerful and underappreciated predictor of cardiovascular risk and insulin resistance. Research has consistently shown it to be a stronger marker of heart disease risk than total cholesterol alone, largely because it reflects the balance between harmful and protective lipids in a single figure.

High triglycerides combined with low HDL - producing a high ratio - is a hallmark of metabolic syndrome and closely associated with the presence of small, dense LDL particles, which are particularly damaging to arterial walls. Studies have found the TG:HDL ratio to be an effective surrogate marker for insulin resistance, even before blood glucose levels become abnormal, making it a valuable early-warning signal.

What it measures

BMI is calculated from your height and weight, giving a simple ratio that indicates whether your weight may be placing your health at risk — whether through being underweight, overweight, or living with obesity. It is one of the most widely used population-level screening tools in clinical and public health practice.

Why it matters

Decades of research link BMI ranges outside the healthy band (18.5–24.9 kg/m²) with meaningfully elevated risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, and all-cause mortality. The World Health Organisation recognises obesity — defined as a BMI ≥ 30 — as a major global health risk, and even a modest reduction in BMI has been associated with significant improvements in metabolic markers and life expectancy.

Because it is derived purely from height and weight, BMI is quick, non-invasive, and reproducible. It provides a useful baseline, particularly when tracking changes in weight over time, and its predictive value is well-established across large epidemiological datasets.

Its limitations — and why we go further

BMI does not distinguish between muscle and fat mass, nor does it reveal where fat is distributed in the body. Two people with identical BMIs can have very different metabolic risk profiles depending on their body composition. For this reason, we treat BMI as a starting point, and supplement it with more targeted measures where possible.

Some of your component scores will be calculated based on the information you provide in your health profile, and some will be based on your test results. We encourage you to keep your health profile up to date, and retest at least annually. If you have an appointment with a Qured clinician, they’ll run through key components of your health score with you, but we’re always on hand to answer any questions!

Health scores are informational and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for clinical guidance.

The science behind your health score

01. QRisk

02. Visceral Adiposity Index

03. QDiabetes (coming soon)

04. Mental Wellness

05. Triglyceride:HDL Ratio

06. Body Mass Index (BMI)

Deep insight into your health today; understanding of your risk for tomorrow