A cardiovascular educational intervention for primary care professionals in Spain: positive impact in a quasi-experimental study

Background Routine general practice data collection can help identify patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. Aim To determine whether a training programme for primary care professionals improves the recording of cardiovascular disease risk factors in electronic health records. Design and setting A quasi-experimental study without random assignment of professionals. This was an educational intervention study, consisting of an online-classroom 1-year training programme, and carried out in the Valencian community in Spain. Method The prevalence rates of recording of cardiovascular factors (recorded every 6 months over a 4-year period) were compared between intervention and control group. Clinical relevance was calculated by absolute risk reduction (ARR), relative risk reduction (RRR), and number of patients needed-to-attend (NNA), to avoid under-recording, with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Linear regression models were used for each of the variables. Results Of the 941 professionals initially registered, 78.1% completed the programme. The ARR ranged from 1.87% (95% CI = 1.79 to 1.94) in the diagnosis of diabetes to 15.27% (95% CI = 15.14 to 15.40) in the recording of basal blood glucose. The NNA ranged from 7 in blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose recording to 54 in the diagnosis of diabetes. The RRR ranged from 26.7% in the diagnosis of diabetes to 177.1% in the recording of the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE). The rates of change were greater in the intervention group and the differences were significant for recording of cholesterol (P<0.001), basal blood glucose (P<0.001), smoking (P<0.001), alcohol (P<0.001), microalbuminuria (P = 0.001), abdominal circumference (P<0.001), and SCORE (P<0.001). Conclusion The education programme had a beneficial effect at the end of the follow-up that was significant and clinically relevant.