Prevention and follow-up of cardiovascular disease among patients without a personal GP.
OBJECTIVE
This paper describes the characteristics of Belgian people who declare that they have a personal GP (PGP) compared with those who do not. Furthermore, patterns of cardiovascular prevention and care are described for these two groups.


METHODS
The data are derived from the 1997 Belgian Health Interview Survey (HIS) in which a representative sample (n = 10 221) of the Belgian population was questioned. The HIS data about physical activity, food, blood pressure, cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and stroke are analysed.


RESULTS
After standardization for age and gender, 7.0% of the subjects declared that they did not have a PGP. The mean age of patients without a PGP (33.2 +/- 20.4 years) is significantly lower than for those with a PGP (40.4 +/- 22.7 years) (P < 0.001). More smokers (38.5% compared with 28.5%) were reported among the subjects without a PGP (P < 0.001). For 14.8% of the subjects without a PGP, their blood pressure had never been measured, and for 51.1% their cholesterol had never been measured (6.7% and 35.7%, respectively in subjects with a PGP). Among the subjects without a PGP, 3.8% had high blood pressure and 1.5% had a coronary heart disease. Among the hypertensive patients without a PGP, 43.6% are not treated by any physician.


CONCLUSIONS
Subjects without a PGP were less likely to have a healthy way of life. Having a PGP seemed to have a beneficial influence on the screening for and the follow-up of cardiovascular risk factors. However, it has never been confirmed that providing people who do not have a PGP with one would result in health improvements. In particular, cardiac patients without a PGP sought their medical treatment directly from specialists.
Devroey
D
D
Department of General Practice, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium. dirk.devroey@vub.ac.be
Coigniez
P
P
Vandevoorde
J
J
Kartounian
J
J
Betz
W
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors