An Educational Experiment in Primary Care in Sweden

Objectives: An educational experiment was conducted in Swedish primary care to evaluate the effects of noncommercial treatment information based on national guidelines on the management of hypercholesterolemia.Methods: Community health centres (n=134), with 570 doctors, were randomly allocated to an intervention or a control group. The information was conveyed by community pharmacists and discussed during four group sessions. Clinical performance was studied after the intervention through a retrospective review of 2883 medical records for patients aged 30-65 years with hypercholesterolemia (≥6.5 mmol/1) at each of 110 consenting health centres. Diagnostic investigations, and non-pharmacological and drug treatment actions were used as outcome measures.Results: For patients with more than one other risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) and severe hypercholesterolemia (>7.8 mmol/1), the prescription rate of a lipid-lowering drug was 17% higher in the intervention group compared with the control group ...