BMJ  2004;328 (8 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7448.0-d

Poorer Scottish patients with heart failure see their GPs less

The risk of heart failure is higher among poorer people in Scotland, but poorer people are less likely to see their general practitioner than affluent patients. McAlister and colleagues (p 1110) identified 2186 patients with heart failure among 307 741 patients from 53 general practices participating in the Scottish continuous morbidity project between April 1999 and March 2000. They found that, compared with affluent patients, poorer patients were 44% more likely to develop heart failure but 23% less likely to have ongoing contact with their general practitioner. General practitioners' prescribing did not differ across different social classes. Socioeconomically deprived patient may have poorer outcomes because they have less contact with their general practitioners, conclude the authors.

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Relevant Article

Influence of socioeconomic deprivation on the primary care burden and treatment of patients with a diagnosis of heart failure in general practice in Scotland: population based study

F A McAlister, N F Murphy, C R Simpson, S Stewart, K MacIntyre, M Kirkpatrick, J Chalmers, A Redpath, S Capewell, and J J V McMurray
BMJ 2004 328: 1110. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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