Development, implementation and yield of a cardiometabolic health check

Cardiometabolic health checks are currently introduced in several countries in an attempt to reduce the population-wide increase of cardiometabolic disease.

Developing and implementing a health check for cardiometabolic disorders in a medium-sized primary health care centre and describing the participation rate and the numbers of disorders requiring treatment that are identified.

Observational research in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. All registered patients aged 40-75 years without known cardiometabolic disease (i.e. cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic kidney disease) (n = 1704) were sent a written invitation to participate in a health check. A three-step procedure was used to determine whether a participant was at increased risk of developing cardiometabolic disease. Treatment was started if necessary, according to current guidelines. We recorded the numbers of patients proceeding through each step and the numbers of disorders identified.

A total of 1270 patients (75%) returned the first screening questionnaire. Based on the information from this questionnaire, 952 were invited to visit the health care centre for further assessment. A total of 145 patients (11% of the 1270) were found to have at least one disorder for which treatment was indicated (e.g. increased cardiovascular risk, isolated systolic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, suspected familial hypercholesterolaemia or kidney disease).

The response rate and the number of cases identified demonstrate that cardiometabolic disorders can be effectively detected at a primary health care centre. Further research is needed to assess the long-term effects and efficacy of health checks in general practice.