Do general practitioners follow treatment recommendations from guidelines in their decisions on heart failure management? A cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To investigate whether general practitioners (GPs) follow treatment recommendations from clinical practice guidelines in their decisions on the management of heart failure patients, and assess whether doctors' characteristics are related to their decisions.

Design

Cross-sectional vignette study.

Setting

Continuing Medical Education meeting.

Participants

451 Dutch GPs.

Main outcome measures

Answers to four multiple-choice treatment decisions in clinical vignettes of a patient with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction. With univariable and multivariable regression analyses, respondent characteristics were related to optimal treatment decisions.

Results

Of the 451 GPs, none took four optimal decisions: 7% considered stopping statin

SUBMITTER: Swennen MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3780330 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature