The Attitudes of Physicians Toward Guideline Recommendations for the Management of Dyslipidemia in Clinical Practice - The VIPFARMA ISCP Project

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the different attitudes of physicians regarding international recommendations for the management of dyslipidemia in routine medical practice. Seven clusters of questions were designed to characterize the surveyed population. Eight hundred ninety-eight physicians answered the survey, 68.3% cardiologists and 40.0% had specialties related to cardiovascular prevention. 29.6% of physicians supported LDL goals above 70 mg/dL in secondary prevention. Acceptance of values lower than 70 mg/dL was associated with greater levels of continuing education (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.45-0.91; P = 0.014), specialization in preventive cardiology (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.28-0.88; P = 0.017) or diabetology (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24-0.98; P = 0.043). A less aggressive attitude toward the achievement of guideline goals were observed in physicians who considered LDL values higher than 70 mg/dL as the goal in secondary prevention. One-third of physicians in the survey do not follow goals recommended by international guidelines.