An assessment of the practice of preventive cardiology in an academic health center.

There is evidence that attention to cardiovascular risk factors will decrease the mortality of atherosclerotic disease. The objective of this study was to ascertain how often cardiovascular risk factors were assessed and modified in inpatients and newly seen outpatients aged 10 to 50 years at the University of Missouri-Columbia Hospital and Clinics. A total of 461 randomly selected inpatient and outpatient charts were reviewed from three departments: family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Each record was assessed for history of smoking, exercise, diet, stress, and familial heart disease, for blood pressure measurement, and for serum lipid profile and glucose determination. With the exception of blood pressure, the risk factors were infrequently assessed in outpatients. Again excepting hypertension, there was little evidence of any attempt to modify those risk factors identified in inpatients or outpatients. Therefore, an educational program in risk factor recognition and modification is needed for primary care physicians.