[The evaluation of a program of preventive activities. "Successes" obtained with smokers, heavy drinkers and obese patients]

Evaluation of the Programme of Preventive Measures and Health Publicity (PPMHP) in light of the successes obtained on smokers, heavy drinkers and the obese over a 6-month monitoring period.

A "before and after" intervention study, with no random allocation.

Manises Health Centre.

Compliance with preventive measures and diagnoses were evaluated for 459 patients included in the PPMHP (up to June 1992). Patients who were smokers, heavy drinkers or obese were selected out of 301 patients included in the PPMHP (up to December 1991), with the aim of assessing the number and efficacy of the interventions over a 6-month monitoring period.

"Success" was defined as: giving up smoking, lowering the grams of alcohol consumed to under the limits at their diagnosis, reducing the Bodily Mass Index to below 25. The diagnoses made were as follows: 8.7% (CI 6-11.4%) with Arterial Hypertension; 34.9% (CI 30.4-39.4%) smokers; 9.2% (CI 6.6-11.8%) heavy drinkers; 66.9% (CI 62.1-71.7%) obese; and 38.2% (CI 31.8-42.2%) with Hypercholesterolaemia. There was 5.8% success in smokers (CI 1.7-10.2%, p < 0.01); 23.3% in heavy drinkers (CI 15.3-30.7%, p < 0.01); and 1.1% (p NS) in the obese.

An important number of diagnoses, with low intervention and moderate but significant efficacy, resulted from the interventions made.