Impact of a heart disease risk factor screening survey on an upper-middle class community

The impact of a community-based heart disease risk factor screening program was evaluated after three years. The study population was predominantly white, older, and upper-middle class. Rescreening of the 211 study subjects showed improvements in both health-related behaviors and in risk factor distributions to a degree which would be expected to reduce the risk of heart disease. Although some changes were attributable to secular trends and regression to the mean, direct impact of the survey itself was also demonstrated.