Family Physician's attitudes and practice toward prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the main cause of mortality in both men and women in Iran. The present study aimed to determine family physician's attitude and practice toward prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. A descriptive analytical study of 67 family physicians working in urban and rural health centers of Ilam University of Medical Sciences was conducted. A validated questionnaire completed by GPs in three months interval was used for data collection. From physicians contributing to the project, 55 completed questionnaires (response rate 78%). They knew important risk factors for CVD but had different attitudes toward efficacy of treatment. Majority of physicians (75.8%) had regularly ordered cholesterol measurement as part of their initial assessment for patients. When patients have an initial satisfactory cholesterol level, (26)47.3% re-measured it annually, (2)3.6% after 2 years, and (27)49.1% every 5 years. Urban physicians compared to rural physicians, were more likely to believe the effectiveness of relationship with patients to influencing preventive practices (OR = 3.59, CI95%: 1.57 to 10.99, P= 0.008). Despite of common attitudes about risk factors of CVDs, family physicians had different views on effectiveness of those methods. Family physician's practice was different about the goals for treatment of hypertension, LDL and TG. Variations that were observed in family physician's attitudes and practice could influence intervention strategies.