Original research The delivery of prevention programmes for cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Lodz by primary care physicians Maciek Godycki-Ćwirko1, Malgorzata Koziarska-Rosciszewska1, Katarzyna Kosiek2 1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Chair of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Postgraduate Education, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland 2Family Medicine Clinic, Lodz, Poland Submitted: 12 May 2009 Accepted: 11 September 2009 Arch Med Sci 2010; 6, 2: 208-213 DOI: 10.5114/aoms.2010.13897 Copyright © 2010 Termedia & Banach A b s t r a c t Introduction: In Poland, the National Health Fund (NHF) has contracted preventative interventions in primary health care (PHC) delivered by family physicians, internists, paediatricians and other physicians. The aim of the study was determining whether there is a correlation between PHC physicians’ specialisation and the rate of interventions delivered for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Material and methods: A retrospective observational study of the NHF 2005 data related to the delivery of prevention programmes using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (rho). Results: Out of 133 PHC providers in Lodz, 25 participated in the cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, 22 in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevention programme at a basic level, and 20 at an extended level (with contract completion rates respectively of 55.2, 47.8 and 51.5%). When all three prevention programmes were analysed together, the correlation between the rate of preventative interventions by physicians with a particular specialisation and the contract completion rate was positive (rho > 0) only for family physicians. Conclusions: Participation of primary health care providers in preventative programmes and the rates of their delivery of interventions were low despite additional funding. The correlation between the proportion of physicians with a particular specialisation, involved in CVD and COPD prevention interventions delivery, and the rate of the programme accomplishment was the strongest for family physicians. Key words: prevention, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, family physician, primary health care. Introduction Data concerning the overall prevalence and morbidity of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Poland are scarce. An estimation based on the Polish Register of Acute Coronary Syndromes showed 140 000 cases per year with early mortality rates of 7% for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and 5% for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction [1, 2]. The prevalence of hypertension within the NATPOL III PLUS study of adults in Poland, with measurements in the clinic setting, was 29% [3]. The prevalence might be different if diagnoses were validated by ambulatory blood pressure measurements [4]. The estimated prevalence of chronic heart failure in Poland exceeds 2.5%, with the incidence increasing Corresponding author: Maciek Godycki-Ćwirko, PhD Department of Family and Community Medicine Medical University of Lodz 20 Kopcinskiego Str. 90-153 Lodz, Poland Phone: + 48 (0) 42 679 55 46 Fax: + 48 (0) 42 678 60 41 E-mail: maciekgc@uni.lodz.pl