Screening for hypertension by volunteers in a middle-class community.
Screening for hypertension in citizens 30-69 years of age by trained volunteers was initiated by the community of a middle-class town in Holland. At the same time counselling on cardiovascular risk factors was offered to the public. The campaign ran smoothly and at low cost, resulting in 4% hypertensives detected. The population appeared to be well-informed about cardiovascular risk factors in general, but were ignorant of prevailing personal risk factors. Review of results after one and two years shows that a considerable number of identified patients are lost to follow-up in primary health care. It is concluded that an integrated approach for anticipatory care is required for both screening and patient management by primary health care teams.
Westerman
R F
RF
Department of Medicine, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tesselaar
H J
HJ
Donker
A J
AJ
D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014838:Volunteers