The Contribution of a Health Survey to a Family Practice

Abstract

A community health survey provided a family practice in Jerusalem with a considerable amount of new information about its patients, with particular reference to ischaemic heart disease and the major risk factors for atherosclerotic disease. Many previously unknown cases of hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia were revealed among young adults. The survey findings, analysed together with data available in the clinical records of the practice, provided a systematic community picture of the prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease; this information has formed the basis for a community medicine programme designed to reduce the risk of these diseases. The survey findings provide base-line data for the subsequent controlled evaluation of this programme.