RESULTS OF THE ASAM STUDY ARZTLICHE-STAND ORT AND FACTOR EVALUATION AND EXAMINATION OF OUTPATIENT MANAGEMENT

Although venous diseases are very common and represent frequent reason s for consultations in general practices, little is known about the ac tual ambulatory care for these patients. In a sentinel network consist ing of general practitioners, 385 contacts with patients suffering fro m venous diseases (64% with varicose veins, 24% with phlebitis and 11% with ulcers) were documented. In 9% of the cases, the functional disa bility was ''severe''. The diagnostic procedures included laboratory t ests in 23%, ECG in 11%, Doppler sonography in 8% and X-ray or angiogr aphy in 5%. The frequency of these diagnostic procedures correlated si gnificantly with the degree of severity, The probability of a Doppler sonography in practices with ultrasound equipment compared to practice s without it, was - stratified for the degree of severity, the unequal distribution of diseases and the level of acquaintance with the patie nt - between 2.2 and 2.6 (p always < 0.05), the probability of laborat ory rests between 2.4 and 2.6 (p always < 0.001). This. significant de pendance of diagnostic procedures from the available equipment calls f or the introduction of diagnostic standards as measures of quality ass urance even for so-called trivial diseases.