Hausärztliche Diagnostik bei Patienten mit Venenerkrankungen in Abhängigkeit von Schweregrad, Diagnose und Praxisausstattung. Ergebnisse aus der ASAM-Studie "Arztliche Standort- und Faktorbeurteilung und Untersuchung des ambulanten Patientenmanagements".

Although venous diseases are very common and represent frequent reasons for consultations in general practices, little is known about the actual ambulatory care for these patients. In a sentinel network consisting of general practitioners, 385 contacts with patients suffering from venous diseases (64% with varicose veins, 24% with phlebitis and 11% with ulcers) were documented. In 9% of the cases, the functional disability was «severe». The diagnostic procedures included laboratory tests in 23%, ECG in 11%, Doppler sonography in 8% and X-ray or angiography in 5%. The frequency of these diagnostic procedures correlated significantly with the degree of severity. The probability of a Doppler sonography in practices with ultrasound equipment compared to practices without it, was - stratified for the degree of severity, the unequal distribution of diseases and the level of acquaintance with the patient - between 2.2 and 2.6 (p always < 0.05), the probability of laboratory tests between 2.4 and 2.6 (p always < 0.001). This significant dependance of diagnostic procedures from the available equipment calls for the introduction of diagnostic standards as measures of quality assurance even for so-called trivial diseases.