Impact of implementing electronic clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis, control and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors: A pre-post controlled study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of computerized clinical practice guidelines on the management, diagnosis, treatment, control, and follow-up of the main cardiovascular risk factors: hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. DesignPre-post controlled study. SettingCatalonia, autonomous community located in north-eastern Spain. ParticipantsIndividuals aged 35–74 years assigned to general practitioners of the Catalan Health Institute. InterventionThe intervention group consisted of individuals whose general practitioners had accessed the computerized clinical practice guidelines at least twice a day, while the control group consisted of individuals whose general practitioner had never accessed the computerized clinical practice guidelines platform. Main outcomesThe Chi-squared test was used to detect significant differences in the follow-up, control, and treatment variables for all three disorders (hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus) between individuals assigned to users and non-users of the computerized clinical practice guidelines, respectively. ResultsA total of 189,067 patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 56 years (standard deviation 12), and 55.5% of whom were women. Significant differences were observed in hypertension management, treatment and control; type 2 diabetes mellitus management, treatment and diagnoses, and the management and control of hypercholesterolaemia in both sexes. ConclusionsComputerized clinical practice guidelines are an effective tool for the control and follow-up of patients diagnosed with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolaemia. The usefulness of computerized clinical practice guidelines to diagnose and adequately treat individuals with these disorders remains unclear.