[Variability of prescriptions in prevailing indications in primary care: a multicenter study. Study of Prescriptions in Primary Care (GEPAP)]. / Variabilidad de la prescripción en indicaciones prevalentes en atención primaria: un estudio multicéntrico. Estudio de la Prescripción en Atención Primaria (GEPAP).

OBJECTIVES: It seems convenient to have information on how drugs are used in everyday's practice in order to be able to make drug selection proposals. The aim of this study was to describe the prescription profile in a number of prevalent indications and its variability among the participating centres. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Four Primary care centres. PARTICIPANTS: Each of the 32 participating physicians collected information on 200 consecutive patients who received a prescription between October 1994 and January 1995. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 5932 patients, with a mean age of 56 years (SD = 18 years) were included. We analysed the prescriptions they received for hypertension (988 patients), hyperlipidaemia (254), peptic ulcer (PU) (136), nonulcer dyspepsia (271), chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) (293), asthma (134) and depression (261). We describe the number of different drugs used (range: 14 for PU-63 for hypertension), the number of drugs that accounted for 90% of the prescriptions (range: 5 for PU-20 for depression), the number of recently marketed drugs (range: 0 for PU-9 for hypertension) and the proportion of prescribed drugs they accounted for (range: 0% for PU-12.4% for depression). We found an important variability among the participating centres in all the considered indications; for instance, statins for hyperlipidaemia. CONCLUSION: A rather high variability in prescription habits among participating centres was found. Prescription was highly concentrated in a few number of drugs, and the use of recently marketed drugs accounted for less than 10% of all prescriptions, although data show variability according to the considered indications.

[Coronary risk factors associated to acute myocardial infarct in 40-year-old or younger patients]. / Factores de riesgo coronario asociados al infarto agudo de miocardio en pacientes con edad menor de 40 anos.

Acute myocardiac infarction (AMI) in young patients is not a common occurrence; between 3% and 7% of all AMIS occur in persons under 40. A number of Risk Factors (RF) have been identified as associated with this disease, although in this age group, smoking at 70%, is the most frequent RF, followed by cholesterol, also high-risk at 44.3%, diabetes and AHT, although important RFS, are less frequent in this age group. Familiarization with these Risk Factors will form the basis of primary prevention of this disease directed both at the population at large and at those individuals already identified as most at risk.