Heart failure guidelines and prescribing in primary care across Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Major international differences in heart failure treatment have been repeatedly described, but the reasons for these differences remain unclear. National guideline recommendations might be a relevant factor. This study, therefore, explored variation of heart failure guideline recommendations in Europe.

Methods

Treatment recommendations of 14 national guidelines published after 1994 were analyzed in relation to the heart failure treatment guideline of the European Society of Cardiology. To test potential relations between recommendations and prescribing, national prescribing patterns as obtained by a European study in primary care (IMPROVEMENT-HF) were related to selected recommendations in those countries.

Results

Besides the 14 national guidelines used by

SUBMITTER: Sturm HB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1236923 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature