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

OBJECTIVE: To 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.

DESIGN: Pre-post controlled study.

SETTING: Catalonia, autonomous community located in north-eastern Spain.

PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 35-74 years assigned to general practitioners of the Catalan Health Institute.

INTERVENTION: The 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 OUTCOMES: The 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.

RESULTS: A 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.

CONCLUSIONS: Computerized 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.