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Table 1 Study hypotheses

From: Health improvement and prevention study (HIPS) - evaluation of an intervention to prevent vascular disease in general practice

Primary Hypotheses

Secondary Hypotheses

1. In the intervention group 20% more patients who are at high risk of developing vascular disease will be offered evidence-based interventions (motivational counselling or referral to appropriate services) to modify their risk factors compared with patients in the control group.

4 Patients in the intervention group will be more likely to progress in their stage of change compared with the control group.

2 In the intervention group the self-reported attitudes and practices of general practice staff towards preventive care and behavioural risk factor management will improve compared with the control group

5 In the intervention group, a lower proportion of patients with high psychological distress (K10 score > 15) will change their behaviour compared to those who have low psychological distress (K10 score < 15)

3 The behavioural (diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol) and physiological (weight, LDL cholesterol, blood pressure) risk factor scores of patients identified at high risk in the intervention group will be reduced over 12 months in comparison with high risk patients in the control group.

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