Computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) in primary care.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to study the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among 11,000 inhabitants in Northern Helsinki, and to identify high-risk individuals in the area and direct them to the local primary-health-care-centred CVD-risk-factor prevention programme.


METHODS
We conducted a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI), a descriptive survey and primary care unit searching for CVD risk factors within the population under its responsibility. Six hundred and sixty-seven individuals aged 18-65 years out of 1000 randomly chosen inhabitants were interviewed using CATI. We measured the prevalence of self-reported CVD risk factors: smoking, blood pressure, last measured total serum cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), alcohol consumption, diabetes, physical exercise habits, positive family history of CVD/diabetes and personal history of CVD.


RESULTS
Sixty-seven per cent of the sample was interviewed. Nineteen per cent did not have a telephone and 3% refused to be interviewed. Eleven per cent did not respond. Persons with high cardiovascular risk scores were observed mainly in the oldest age group. In the total sample, 23% of women and 28% of men were estimated to be at high risk of coronary artery disease. Gender differences were seen only in one age-group: 45-54-year-old men reporting higher risk-factor scores. The results were analysed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS).


CONCLUSIONS
The CATI-method is a useful tool in screening of high-CVD-risk patients and in guiding them to local CVD primary prevention programmes.
Ketola
E
E
Northern Health Care Center, Helsinki, Finland.
Klockars
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013689:Telephone