Assessment of coronary heart disease risk, I. A postal inquiry among primary care physicians.

The purpose of the present study was to examine general practitioners' abilities to make a correct estimation of the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). A 10% random sample of Norwegian primary care physicians (n = 288) received a questionnaire that presented 10 case histories containing information about five CHD risk factors. The respondents' risk estimation was compared with a composite score computed from epidemiologic data. The observed general tendency was towards underestimating the CHD risk. However, 'high-risk' histories were recognized as CHD risk persons. Assessment of CHD risk due to multiple marginal abnormalities was only exceptionally correct. Hypercholesterolaemia and hypertension in men were acknowledged as contributing to clinically significant CHD risk only by a minority of GPs. Heavy smoking and a positive family history were associated with a more accurate estimation of CHD risk. Forty per cent of the physicians did not recognize the sex dependency of cholesterol as a CHD risk factor. None of the physician characteristics could predict variation in correct risk assessment.