RT Journal
A1 Buchta WG, Wissell RA, Bagley RC, Greaves WW
T1 PHysician reaction to a local community cholesterol screening program
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 1989
FD November 1
VO 149
IS 11
SP 2479
OP 2481
DO 10.1001/archinte.1989.00390110065014
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1989.00390110065014
AB • One of the primary concerns of the National Cholesterol Education Program about mass screening for elevated blood cholesterol has been the readiness of primary care physicians to deal with a large number of referrals. After 11 680 people were screened in a city of 85 000 people, 3069 (26.3%) were referred to their private physicians. Three months later a questionnaire was mailed to 76 local primary care physicians, and a follow-up letter was mailed to those who had not responded after 2 months. The response rate was 76% from a total of seven specialties, primarily internal medicine and family medicine. Seventy-nine percent of the physicians had been aware of the program, 40% diagnosed at least one case of hypercholesterolemia as a result of the program, and 71% approved of community cholesterol screening. Only one physician indicated that he was overwhelmed with referrals. We conclude that most primary-care physicians support community cholesterol screening as a public health measure and will use screening data to initiate diagnosis.(Arch Intern Med. 1989;149:2479-2481)