Aggression and violent behaviour in general practice: population based survey in the north of England.

I thank all the people who took part in this study, Brian Tom from the Centre for Applied Medical Statistics at Cambridge University for statistical advice, and Peter Brambleby and Malcolm Adams for their constructive comments. NS is the sole author and acts as guarantor of the study. Funding: NS was supported by a health services research fellowship from the NHS Executive Anglia and Oxford Research and Development Directorate. Competing interests: None declared. 1 Reed WW, Herbers JE, Noel GL. Cholesterol-lowering therapy: what patients expect in return. J Gen Intern Med 1993;8:591-6. 2 Friedmann PD, Brett AS, Mayo-Smith MF. Differences in generalists’ and cardiologists’ perceptions of cardiovascular risk and the outcomes of preventive therapy in cardiovascular disease. Ann Intern Med 1996;124: 414-21. 3 Mulrow C, Lau J, Cornell J, Brand M. Antihypertensive drug therapy in the elderly. Cochrane Collaboration. Cochrane Library, Issue 1; Oxford: Update Software, 1998. 4 Gueyffier F, Froment A, Gouton M. New meta-analysis of treatment trials of hypertension: improving the estimate of therapeutic benefit. J Hum Hypertens 1996;10:1-8. 5 Ramsay LE, Williams B, Johnston GD, MacGregor GA, Poston L, Potter JF, et al. British Hypertension Society guidelines for hypertension management 1999: summary. BMJ 1999;319:630-5.