The effectiveness of screening for major cardiovascular risk factors in the population of small towns in Poland

Background: Screening represents an important tool to improve detection of cardiovascular risk factors. Uniform standards for screening programs and for evaluation of their effectiveness are still lacking. Material and methods: The results of the Polish 400 Cities Project (P400CP) were analyzed by age and gender, and with regard to the prevalence and awareness of cardiovascular risk factors. The P400CP population were volunteers reporting for screening tests in small towns, and a representative sample was used as control. Results: Mean age in the screening group was 10 years more than in the representative sample. Two thirds of participants were women. First-time diagnosis rates for elevated arterial blood pressure, hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia in the screening were 28%, 15% and 51%, respectively. Almost 40% of participants reported previously diagnosed hypertension (vs. 25% of the control sample), 7% vs. 4% reported diabetes and 16% vs. 9% – hypercholesterolemia. Smokers represented 16.5% of participants (36% of the control sample). Conclusions: “Open” screening programs fail in targeting young adults, especially males, and people reporting for screening are often already diagnosed with arterial hypertension and/or diabetes. Despite these limitations, “open” screening is effective in detecting undiagnosed cases of hypercholesterolemia. Non-smokers report for screening tests more often.