It is important to understand that disease risk calculation is based on statistics. The risk scoring system is built from population-based epidemiological data for diseases and their associated risk factors, gathered primarily from observational studies of populations. As such, a risk score can be considered reflective of the typical individual in the population for whom the questionnaire responses given match those of the user. The model has been tested against individual outcomes for a subset of the diseases using a large longitudinal population study.

Areas in which the risk score may have less accuracy include, but are not limited to:

• Risk factors which are not known to the user, or not captured by the Healthcheck questionnaire
• Where inaccurate information is provided
• When considering a large combination of active risk factors, due to inherent independent assumptions of co-occurrence leading to larger risk scores than may be seen in practice
• Where the occurrence rate of a disease is very low, such as for old-age conditions in young people

However, please remember that the disease risk calculation is based on statistics, is not personalised to you, and is designed to show how lifestyle factors may impact disease risk in statistical terms. The information is not a substitute for a doctor and should not be relied upon.