The delivery of preventive services in primary care practices according to chronic disease status

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 87; no. 7; pp. 1190 - 1196
• Main Authors: Fontana, S A, Baumann, L C, Helberg, C, Love, R R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Am Public Health Assoc 01.07.1997; American Public Health Association
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Chronic Disease - epidemiology; Chronic diseases; Chronic illnesses; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology; Disease prevention; Family Practice - statistics & numerical data; Female; General practice; Heart Diseases - epidemiology; Humans; Hypertension - epidemiology; Logistic Models; Male; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Medical records; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Midwestern United States - epidemiology; Neoplasms - prevention & control; Prevention and actions; Preventive health care; Preventive Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Preventive medicine; Primary care; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Relationship; Sampling Studies; Sociodemographics; Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...); Status; USA; Womens health; United States; North America; America; Endocrinopathy; Human; Hypertension; Attitude; Diabetes mellitus; Cardiovascular disease; Health service; Malignant tumor; Medical screening; Prevention; Heart disease; Behavior; Comparative study; Public health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.87.7.1190

The current study examined the relationship between chronic disease status and the receipt of cancer preventive services over a 3-year period. Adults (n = 4320) cared for by 167 nonacademic physicians in 42 primary care group practices were studied. Medical records were audited for each patient, as were patient responses to two questionnaires assessing health and sociodemographic characteristics. While the odds of having received counseling to obtain regular checkups were increased for men (1.56) and women (1.46) with hypertension, the odds were reduced (range = 0.32 to 0.81) for having received a sigmoidoscopy (women with diabetes or hypertension, men with hypertension or heart disease), fecal occult blood test (men with diabetes or heart disease, women with heart disease), mammogram or counseling about smoking (women with diabetes), clinical breast exam (women with heart disease), and Pap test (women with diabetes or heart disease). The presence of common chronic health problems in older adults is associated with lower levels of cancer screening services.