[Quaternary prevention in the Cardiovascular Health Program Rational use of complementary exams: A narrative review]. / Prevención cuaternaria en el programa de Salud Cardiovascular Uso racional de exámenes complementarios: Una revisión narrativa "Exámenes en prevención cardiovascular cuaternaria".

INTRODUCTION: The Cardiovascular Health Program (PSCV), founded by the Ministry of Health of Chile (Minsal), is focused on the global cardiovascular risk of people with the purpose of preventing and reducing morbidity, disability and premature death caused by cardiovascular diseases, in congruence with its sanitary aims. Quaternary Prevention is defined as "actions taken to protect individuals from medical interventions that are likely to cause more harm than good". The PSVC's 2017 technical guidelines establish a battery of 11 complementary exams to request upon entering the program, however, neither the scientific evidence that supports them nor the periodicity of their request was mentioned. The aim of this revision is to evaluate the rationality of exams request, based on updated evidence, as a strategy for quaternary prevention and potential economic savings for the sanitary system. METHODS: A narrative review was conducted through searches on databases, updated clinical guidelines and international recommendations about 11 complementary exams on the follow-up of Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension. RESULTS: Based on the data analysis, recommendations were made according to the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) system. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the costs of widely requested complementary exams could be reduced through a more efficient management guided by updated evidence. Our proposal entails changes in some processes and in the evaluation of fulfillment of the PSCV, as well as a deeper cost-effectiveness analysis of the recommendations in order to optimize the management of resources in primary health care.

Chequeo preventivo basado en la evidencia / Evidence-based health check

Un chequeo preventivo se define como el contacto entre un profesional de salud y una persona asintomática en el que se realizan varias pruebas de tamizaje para evaluar su salud con el objetivo de reducir la morbimortalidad. No obstante, la evidencia científica demuestra que realizar varias pruebas de tamizaje es poco probable que sea beneficioso para ese objetivo y cada examen debe ofrecerse de manera individualizada considerando riesgos y beneficios. Los objetivos de esta revisión son describir la utilidad de estos chequeos, revisar brevemente acciones preventivas y formular grados de recomendación, pudiendo así el lector reconocer las recomendaciones preventivas basadas en evidencia en un adulto sano. En el presente artículo se sintetizan recomendaciones utilizando la metodología GRADE en su formulación. Si bien la mayoría de las recomendaciones revisadas tienen evidencia de moderada a alta certeza, es importante considerar algunas distinciones al momento de ofrecer las acciones preventivas. Luego de este esfuerzo académico, queda en evidencia la necesidad de constituir una organización formal dedicada a la revisión, elaboración y actualización de recomendaciones preventivas en nuestro país, así como evaluar el impacto de estas acciones en cuanto a resultados de salud.

A general health check is defined as the contact between a health professional and an asymptomatic person where several screening tests are performed to assess general health with the aim of reducing morbidity and mortality. However, scientific evidence shows that performing several screening tests are unlikely to be beneficial for those outcomes and each test should be individualized considering risks and benefits.The objectives of this review are to describe the usefulness of these checks, briefly review preventive actions, and formulate degrees of recommendation, thus allowing the reader to recognize evidence-based preventive recommendations in a healthy adult.In this article, recommendations are synthesized using the GRADE methodology in its formulation. While most of the recommendations reviewed have moderate to high certainty evidence, it is important to consider some distinctions when offering preventive actions.After this academic effort, the need to establish a formal organization dedicated to the review, preparation and updating of preventive recommendations in our country is evident, as well as evaluating the impact of these actions in terms of health outcomes