EARLY: a pilot study on early diagnosis of XXXX in a primary healthcare centre.

@entity1 @entity712 @entity101 @entity6 @entity955 @entity340 @entity943
AIM: @entity955 ( @entity955 ) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis is likely to improve therapy and prognosis. The study objective was to evaluate the usefulness of a programme for early diagnosis of @entity955 in @entity1 from an urban primary care centre. METHODS AND RESULTS: @entity1 were recruited from a randomized sample of @entity1 not diagnosed with @entity955 but having relevant risk factors: age >=  65 years, ischaemic and/or @entity340 , @entity712 , @entity101 , and/or @entity6 . @entity1 were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG) or control group (CG). The intervention included (i) initial visit with clinical history, electrocardiogram, and instruction about pulse palpation and warning signs and (ii) electrocardiogram every 6 months during a 2-year follow-up. The main endpoint of the study was the proportion of new cases diagnosed at 6 months. Secondary endpoints were number of new @entity955 diagnoses and complications associated with the @entity943 in both groups. A total of 928 @entity1 were included (463 IG and 465 CG). At 6 months, @entity955 was diagnosed in 8 IG @entity1 and 1 CG @entity1 (1.7 vs. 0.2%, respectively, P = 0.018). After 2 years of follow-up, 11 IG @entity1 and 6 CG @entity1 had newly diagnosed @entity955 (2.5 vs. 1.3%, respectively, P = 0.132). Time to first diagnosis of @entity955 was shorter in IG @entity1 [median (inter-quartile range): 7 (192) days vs. 227 (188.5) days in CG, P = 0.029]. CONCLUSION: The simple screening proposed could be useful for the early detection of @entity955 in primary care.
