General practitioners' use of absolute risk versus individual risk factors in cardiovascular disease prevention: an experimental study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To understand general practitioners' (GPs) use of individual risk factors (blood pressure and cholesterol levels) versus absolute risk in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk management decision-making.

Design

Randomised experiment. Absolute risk, systolic blood pressure (SBP), cholesterol ratio (total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (TC/HDL)) and age were systematically varied in hypothetical cases. High absolute risk was defined as 5-year risk of a cardiovascular event >15%, high blood pressure levels varied between SBP 147 and 179 mm Hg and high cholesterol (TC/HDL ratio) between 6.5 and 7.2 mmol/L.

Setting

4 GP conferences in Australia.

Participants

144 Australian GPs.

Outcomes

GPs indicated whether they would prescribe cholesterol and/or

SUBMITTER: Jansen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4025465 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature