Measuring changes in lipid markers in the PC-SHOP trial

Carmen Piernas-Sanchez, Susan Jebb, Paul Aveyard.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart attacks and strokes, is the leading cause of death in the UK and is strongly influenced by diet. Eating too much saturated fat increases the amount of ‘bad’ LDL-cholesterol in the blood, which increases the risk of heart disease. Previous studies have shown that reducing the intake of saturated fat (mostly fats from animal sources such as butter or meat), by swapping some foods for others that are lower in saturated fat, can lead to big reductions in the amount of LDL-cholesterol. However, these studies have achieved success either by giving specific foods to people or by providing intensive support and advice from nutrition specialists. 

The Primary Care Shopping Intervention for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (PC-SHOP) study will develop and test the feasibility of a new intervention, involving brief oral and written advice from a health professional at the GP practice together with regular information on the saturated fat content of food purchases. We will achieve this by partnering with Tesco. People using their loyalty card will receive a personalised statement of the saturated fat content of their food purchases. They will be able to use this information, together with the written materials they have received, to swap foods which contain a lot of saturated fat for healthier alternatives.

We will recruit people who have had a recent blood test that shows they have raised LDL cholesterol and who are willing to try and change their diet. We will compare the two intervention groups with usual care. People will be in the study for 12 weeks. We will primarily assess if the amount of saturated fat in their diet has decreased. 

Amount awarded: £2,140