Randomized controlled trial of the effect of medical audit on AIDS prevention in general practice

Objective. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a medical audit on AIDS preve ntion in general practice. Methods. We conducted a prospective randomized controlled study performed a s 'lagged intervention'. At the time of comparison, the intervention group had completed 6 months of audit including a primary activity registration, feedback of own data and a meeting with colleagues and experts, and had rec eived brief summaries of the meetings and reminders about the project (a fu ll 'audit circle'). The participants were from general practices in Copenha gen and the Counties of Funen and Vejle, Dan mark. One hundred and thirty-t h ree GPs completed the project. The main outcome measures were the number of consultations involving AIDS prevention and the number of talks about AI DS initiated by the GP, and some elements of the content were registered on a chart. Results. No statistically significant difference was observed in the freque ncy of consultations involving AIDS prevention between the intervention gro up (1.2% of consultations) and the control group (1.4%). Furthermore, no si gnificant differences were observed regarding the content of these consulta tions or regarding the fraction of such consultations initiated by the GPs. Conclusions. Medical audit had no observed effect on AIDS prevention in gen eral practice.