Cardiovascular screening for men at high risk in Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust: the 'Deadly Trio' programme

BACKGROUND: The Deadly Trio programme offered cardiovascular health checks to men over 40 in inner-city Birmingham. The aim was to increase diagnosis of diabetes, cardiovascular and kidney disease among this deprived and ethnically diverse population. Either patients' own general practitioners (GPs) were paid to provide health checks or patients were invited to an alternative provider.

METHODS: Routine data were sought from 68 participating practices. Logistic regression analysis was undertaken to determine the patient and practice factors associated with being screened and with being added to a disease register.

RESULTS: Data were obtained from 58 practices; 5871 (24.3%) of 24 166 eligible men were screened. Screening uptake was higher in those with a recorded phone number, South Asians and Blacks but lower in smokers. Compared to the alternative provider, uptake was higher among men registered with single-handed (but not multi-partner) GPs paid to provide health checks. South Asian, older and screened men were more often added to disease registers. Men with missing information and GP-screened men were less likely to be added to registers.

CONCLUSIONS: The programme achieved higher screening uptake and diagnosis of disease among minority ethnic men. Single-handed GPs paid to provide screening (and their patients) were more responsive than multi-partner practices.