Randomized controlled trial of the effect of medical audit on AIDS prevention in general practice

We aimed to evaluate the effect of a medical audit on AIDS prevention in general practice.

We conducted a prospective randomized controlled study performed as 'lagged intervention'. At the time of comparison, the intervention group had completed 6 months of audit including a primary activity registration, feedback of own data and a meeting with colleagues and experts, and had received brief summaries of the meetings and reminders about the project (a full 'audit circle'). The participants were from general practices in Copenhagen and the Counties of Funen and Vejle, Denmark. One hundred and thirty-three GPs completed the project. The main outcome measures were the number of consultations involving AIDS prevention and the number of talks about AIDS initiated by the GP, and some elements of the content were registered on a chart.

No statistically significant difference was observed in the frequency of consultations involving AIDS prevention between the intervention group (1.2% of consultations) and the control group (1.4%). Furthermore, no significant differences were observed regarding the content of these consultations or regarding the fraction of such consultations initiated by the GPs.

Medical audit had no observed effect on AIDS prevention in general practice.