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Hydra, a Computer-Based Platform for Aiding Clinicians in Cardiovascular Analysis and Diagnosis
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Hydra, a Computer-Based Platform for Aiding Clinicians in Cardiovascular Analysis and Diagnosis

Published on: September 26, 2018

Improving cardiovascular risk management: a randomized, controlled trial on the effect of a decision support tool for

Ben van Steenkiste1, Trudy van der Weijden, Henri E J H Stoffers

  • 1Department of General Practice, Centre for Quality of Care Research, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), the Netherlands. Ben.vanSteenkiste@hag.unimaas.nl

European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation : Official Journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology
|February 16, 2007
PubMed

Insights

A 4-hour training on a cardiovascular risk decision tool did not improve general practitioner performance or patient risk perception. However, it did increase physical activity in men, suggesting potential for patient involvement strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Primary Care Medicine
  • Health Behavior Research

Background:

  • General practitioners (GPs) and patients exhibit suboptimal adherence to cardiovascular risk-reducing interventions.
  • GPs struggle to accurately assess cardiovascular risk due to multiple factors and find communicating this risk to patients challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To enhance patient involvement in primary cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention within primary care settings.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of a decision support tool integrated with GP training.

Main Methods:

  • A cluster randomized trial involving 34 GPs and patients aged 40-75 without existing CVD.
  • Intervention group GPs received 4-hour training on cardiovascular risk guidelines and a decision support tool; control group received paper materials.
  • GPs' clinical performance, patient risk perception, and self-reported lifestyles were assessed at baseline and 6 months.

Main Results:

  • No significant improvement in GPs' clinical performance or patients' risk perception was observed after 6 months.
  • A statistically significant increase in self-reported physical activity was noted among men in the intervention group (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.7-8.7).

Conclusions:

  • A 4-hour interactive training session did not ensure proper use of the decision support tool, failing to enhance GP performance or patient risk perception.
  • The observed positive impact on physical activity warrants further investigation into patient involvement strategies for cardiovascular risk reduction.
Abstract

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