[Analysis of 20,000 calls at the cardiovascular hotline of the German Hypertension Society].
OBJECTIVE
The cardiovascular hotline of the German Hypertension Society is a telephone information and support service which has been operated since 1992. This retrospective study was aimed at presenting a profile of the callers and the affected persons, a summary of the personal inquiries as well as significant changes over time based on three samples.


METHODS
A total of 55,000 phone calls were made from 1992 to 2007. Data of 20,195 inquiries representing three periods (1992/1993, 1999/2000, 2006/2007) were analysed.


RESULTS
There were almost equal numbers of female and male callers. The same applied to the gender of the affected persons. In 80 % of the calls the concerned persons themselves asked for informations. In 12 % relatives called for a parent, occasionally for a child or a friend. In the three samples the average age of the affected persons increased from 56.4 to 63.7 years. In 1992/1993 calls mostly originated from areas of high population density in Germany but gradually from smaller towns, too.


CONCLUSIONS
In the future more elderly persons will use the hotline and there will be more questions concerning topics of old age.
Leiblein
J
J
Geschäftsführer der Deutschen Hochdruckliga e. V. DHL - Deutschen Hypertonie Gesellschaft, Heidelberg. Hochdruckliga@t-online.de
Dominiak
P
P
D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000628:therapy*; D007255:Information Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011156:Population Density; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013997:Time Factors