title: Socioeconomic differences in case finding among general practices in England: analysis of secondary data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine how levels of case finding differ between general practices in England by level of population socio-economic deprivation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational analysis of data from the Quality and Outcome Framework in England for 2005/06. It covered 8339 primary care practices. Reported prevalence and estimated prevalence for coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and hypertension were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The gap between estimated and reported prevalence increased with population deprivation and was higher among practices in more deprived areas (defined as Spearhead areas) for all four conditions after adjustment for practice level variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is some evidence of unmet need in areas of social deprivation. Existing financial incentives in the Quality and Outcome Framework may be insufficient to promote active case finding by practices serving deprived populations.
authors.affiliation: The King's Fund, London, UK. a.dixon@kingsfund.org.uk
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.forename: Artak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khachatryan
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D011204:Poverty Areas; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*