Health promotion in general practice

BMJ 1994;308:852-853 (26 March)

Letters

Health promotion in general practice

Health promotion contributes to the battle against heart disease

Editor,--The two recent papers on the effectiveness of healthchecks in primary care report modest reductions in cardiovascularrisk factors.^{1 2} If the results are applied to the whole populationa sustained 1 mm Hg reduction in mean diastolic blood pressurewould reduce deaths due to coronary heart disease by 4%,³ anda 2% reduction in mean cholesterol concentration would reducesuch deaths by 4%.⁴ An 8% reduction in deaths due to coronaryheart disease seems a considerable achievement for a singleintervention at the population level, and there would be additionalbenefits from a reduction in mortality from other causes (forexample, stroke) and reductions in morbidity. Whether healthpromotion in general practice is a cost effective means of achievingthese benefits needs to be addressed separately. In CambridgeHealth Authority around 650 people die of coronary heart diseaseannually. The . . . [Full text of this article]

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