Audit on cardiovascular disease preventive care in general practice.
BACKGROUND
Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Primary care doctors as general practitioners (GPs) play a central role in prevention, as they are in contact with a large number of patients in the community through provision of first contact, comprehensive and continuing care. This study aims to assess the adequacy of cardiovascular disease preventive care in general practice through a medical audit.


METHODS
Nine GPs in Malaysia did a retrospective audit on the records of patients, aged 45 years and above, who attended the clinics in June 2005. The adequacy of cardiovascular disease preventive care was assessed using agreed criteria and standards.


RESULTS
Standards achieved included blood pressure recording (92.4 percent), blood sugar screening (72.7 percent) and attaining the latest blood pressure of equal or less than 140/90 mmHg in hypertensive patients (71.3 percent). Achieved standards ranged from 11.1 percent to 66.7 percent in the maintenance of hypertension and diabetic registries, recording of smoking status, height and weight, screening of lipid profile and attaining target blood sugar levels in diabetics.


CONCLUSIONS
In the nine general practice clinics audited, targets were achieved in three out of ten indicators of cardiovascular preventive care. There were vast differences among individual clinics.
Chan
S C
SC
Department of Primary Care, Universiti Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak, 3 Jalan Greentown, Ipoh 30450, Malaysia. csching@rcmp.unikl.edu.my
Lee
T W
TW
Teoh
L C
LC
Abdullah
Z C
ZC
Xavier
G
G
Sim
C K
CK
Ng
A C
AC
Ong
I C H
IC
Begum
R
R
Leong
C C
CC
D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D005194:Family Practice; D006074:Gout Suppressants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008296:Malaysia; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D006074:Gout Suppressants; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents