Contact with general practice in patients with suspected chronic coronary syndrome before and after CT angiography compared with the general population

Abstract

Abstract Background Most patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) are referred from general practitioners (GPs). The burden of contacts to GP in relation to investigation of suspected CAD is unknown. Methods and results All patients undergoing CCTA in Western Denmark from 2014 to 2022 were included. CCTA stenosis was defined as diameter stenosis of ≥50%. Patients with and without stenosis were matched, in each group, 1:5 to a reference population based on birth year, gender, and municipality using data from national registries. All GP visits were registered up to 5 years preceding and 1 year after the CTA and stratified by gender and age. Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was calculated in all groups. Of the 62 512 patients included, 12 886 had a stenosis, while 49 626 did not. Patients in both groups had a substantially higher GP visit frequency compared with reference populations. In the year of coronary CTA, the median GP contacts in patients with stenosis were 11 (6–17) vs. 6 (2–11) in the reference population (P < 0.001), and in patients without stenosis, the median GP contacts were 10 (6–17) vs. 5 (2–11) (P < 0.001). These findings were consistent across age and gender. CCI was higher among both patients with and without stenosis compared with reference groups. Conclusion In patients undergoing CCTA to diagnose CAD, a substantially increased frequency of contacts to GP was observed in the 5-year period prior to examination compared with the reference populations, regardless of the CCTA findings. Obtaining the CCTA result did not seem to substantially affect the GP visit frequency.