[Cardiovascular risk factors. An audit of their detection in primary care]

After having found that the prevalences of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity and smoking were low in our adult population on care, we developed a study to investigate the causes of the problem and to introduce measures for its solution following the methodology of the medical audit. The indexes showed that the performance of preventive cardiovascular activities (PCVA) was low: blood pressure measurement 45%, blood cholesterol determination 23%, height and weight measurement 8% and questioning on smoking habits 40%. After the implementation of corrective measures, indexes of 79%, 76%, 71% and 56%, respectively, have been achieved. In addition, a defective recording of the detected risk factors was found: 87% in the clinical history record, 72% in the age and sex card; after the corrective measures, the rates were 98% and 91% respectively. The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of quality control measures carried out by the professionals responsible for care to improve its quality.