Do general practitioner and patient agree about the risk factors for ischaemic heart disease?
OBJECTIVE
To analyse agreement between patients' and GPs' perceptions of risk factors and overall risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD).


METHODS
Cross-sectional study based on paired information from patients and GPs.


METHODS
Twenty-six GPs in the County of Ringkøbing, Denmark, participating in a medical audit during 3 weeks in May 1999.


METHODS
252 patients with IHD and 1239 without IHD.


METHODS
GPs and patients were asked about specific risk factors for IHD and their perception of overall risk. Their agreement was evaluated by Kappa statistics.


RESULTS
Agreement between GPs and patients varied from 70% to 97%. Disagreement was observed most often for patients with IHD and patients listed with elderly GPs ( > 50 years). Generally, patients perceived the overall risk of IHD lower than their doctors, and for most patients with a perception of low risk the GP estimated the risk as high.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients and GPs have different perceptions of the risk of [HD. This may be due to different perceptions of the importance of specific risk factors and different reference frames for risk perception. GPs have an important role in communicating the meaning of risk factors and interventions should be considered to improve risk communication in general practice.
Bjerrum
Lars
L
Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, Odense. lbjerrum@health.sdu.dk
Hamm
Lena
L
Toft
Birgit
B
Munck
Anders
A
Kragstrup
Jakob
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications