Two stage audit of cerebrovascular and coronary heart disease risk factor recording: the effect of case finding and screening programmes.

The level of recording of risk factors for cardiovascular disease by general practitioners in north east Scotland has been audited. The effect of the audit on recording levels has also been determined by means of a second audit one year later. Twenty four practices in Grampian took part in the study, each auditing a random selection of 100 records of male patients aged 35-64 years. The risk factors chosen were blood pressure, smoking habit, alcohol consumption, weight and height. Blood pressure was recorded in the majority of the records (68.0%) and the mean level of recording of all of the risk factors increased between the two audits. The increase in the recording of smoking habit, alcohol consumption and weight was statistically significant. Practices with organized systems of data collection had higher levels of risk factor recording than those without. The levels of recording achieved were thus dependent on factors that existed in the practices prior to the study. This suggests that to increase recording levels, future educational intervention should be aimed at changes of motivation.