Impact of Cardiac Ultrasound Screening on Body Mass Index in Community Health Centers

Abstract

Body mass index is an important indicator in primary care as a measure of a specific health care outcome. As such, it can provide a quantitative basis for clinicians to achieve improvement in care and the process by which patient care is delivered. The potential impact of cardiac sonographic screening on body mass index in disadvantaged primary care patients is unknown. Changes in body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in patients who had cardiac sonographic screening were compared to changes in a control group of similar patients treated in a clinic where cardiac sonographic screening was not available. Control patients gained weight (BMI 27.8 at baseline vs. 28.3 at follow-up), while cardiac screening patients maintained weight (BMI 27.9 at baseline vs. 27.8 at follow-up, P < .05). In overweight patients those who had cardiac screening experienced better outcomes in the quality indicator BMI than control patients, yielding a statistically significant result for some subgroups of patients. Additional effort should be directed toward refining the motivational impact of cardiac sonographic screening. It appears in this particular study that cardiac screening in a community health center was associated with better control of BMI. Such screening may have a significant impact on motivating patients to take a greater interest in personal health maintenance.