title: A preliminary evaluation of a health monitoring programme in Hungary.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 1998 a joint initiative of the Hungarian School of Public Health and the National Public Health Service created a network of sentinel stations based in primary care facilities in four Hungarian counties. The aim was to establish a system that will provide valid data on morbidity of selected diseases in Hungary.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on standardized protocols, the participating centres have continuously reported data on the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis, and some malignant diseases, as well as supplying denominator data. The four counties represent both eastern and western parts of Hungary, reflecting the known geographical disparities in health. Each county office enrolled general practitioners maintaining representation in terms of both geography and distribution of settlement size.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 73 general practitioners agreed to participate, providing care for 15.6% (138,088 people) of the population in the counties. The population registered with the practices were representative in terms of age and sex of both the participating counties and the entire country. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and liver cirrhosis is high in each county but varies considerably, with higher levels in the western counties, especially among older age groups of both sexes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The establishment of sentinel stations to collect morbidity data is feasible and sustainable in Hungarian primary care. The data that have been generated provide a valid and comprehensive picture of important aspects of the Hungarian population's health, with important implications for health policy and health service planning. In regions where low prevalence rates of diseases and high mortality rates simultaneously exist special attention is required to explore the background of this caveat.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Till the end of 1998 no program operated in Hungary engaged with non-communicable disease morbidity data collection, except some hospital-based registries, which failed to produce reliable information. The establishment of sentinel stations to collect morbidity data is feasible and sustainable in Hungarian primary care, the valid morbidity data can be built into the decision making process in health service planning. Regular training, quality control and feedback are important contributors to the success of the program. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and liver cirrhosis is high in each county but varies considerably, with higher levels in the western counties, especially among older age groups of both sexes. More research needed to determine the possible contribution of unknown morbidity and health service utilisation to the different prevalence values in the two parts of Hungary.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Debrecen, Kassai street 26/b, Debrecen, Hungary, H-4012 PoB.2.
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Széles
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Vokó
authors.forename: Tibor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jenei
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kardos
authors.forename: Zsuzsa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pocsai
authors.forename: András
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bajtay
authors.forename: Elemér
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papp
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pásti
authors.forename: Zsigmond
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kósa
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lun
authors.forename: Róza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Adány
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019058:Community Networks; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011635:Public Health Administration; D012581:Schools, Public Health; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance