Electrocardiographic screening in primary care for cardiovascular disease risk and atrial fibrillation.
Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are frequently recorded in primary care for screening purposes. An ECG is essential in diagnosing atrial fibrillation, and ECG abnormalities are associated with cardiovascular events. While recent studies show that ECGs adequately reclassify a proportion of patients based on the clinical risk score calculations, there are no data to support that this also results in improved health outcomes. When applied for screening for atrial fibrillation, more cases are found with routine care, but this would be undone when physicians would perform systematic pulse palpation. In most studies, the harms of routine ECG use (such as unnecessary diagnostic testing, emotional distress, increased health expenses) were poorly documented. As such, the routine performing of ECGs in asymptomatic primary care patients, whether it is for cardiovascular disease risk assessment or atrial fibrillation, cannot be recommended.
['Harskamp|Ralf E|RE|0000-0001-9041-0350']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D001281:Atrial Fibrillation D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases D004562:Electrocardiography D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008403:Mass Screening D008875:Middle Aged D011320:Primary Health Care D018570:Risk Assessment
screening primary care ECG electrocardiography general practice