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[Coronary risk factor management in primary practice in Shibuya, Tokyo]
Jo Nakamura1, Wataru Amano, You Araki
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Sakura Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, Chiba.
Insights
Regional primary care physicians improved hypertension and hyperlipidemia management, but struggled with diabetes and smoking cessation. Physician behavior, not specific actions, is key to effective coronary risk factor control.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Primary Care Medicine
- Public Health
Context:
- Coronary risk factors like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus are established predictors of cardiovascular events.
- Effective management of these risk factors in primary care settings is crucial for reducing cardiovascular incidence.
- The actual impact of risk factor management strategies in routine primary practice remained unclear.
Purpose:
- To investigate the management of coronary risk factors and clinical outcomes in a primary care setting.
- To assess changes in risk factor control and patient adherence to treatment goals over one year.
- To identify challenges and key factors influencing the management of cardiovascular risk in regional practice.
Summary:
- A 1-year study of 209 outpatients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors showed significant improvements in patient education for diet, exercise, and smoking cessation.
- Blood pressure and serum total cholesterol levels decreased significantly, leading to more patients achieving treatment goals set by hypertension and atherosclerosis societies.
- However, interventions did not significantly alter blood hemoglobin A1c levels, body mass index, or smoking status, indicating challenges in managing diabetes mellitus and lifestyle-related factors.
Impact:
- Regional practitioners demonstrated a commitment to controlling coronary risk factors, with notable improvements in hypertension and hyperlipidemia.
- The study highlights that lifestyle modifications for conditions like diabetes mellitus, obesity, and smoking require different approaches than medical management.
- Physician behavior and engagement are identified as the primary determinants of success in comprehensive coronary risk factor management.
Objectives:
Many large-scale clinical trials have confirmed that coronary risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus predict a higher incidence of cardiovascular events and that control of these risk factors reduces the incidence. However, the actual management of such risk factors and the resultant improvement of the cardiovascular events in primary practice remains unclear. The Heart Care Network Shibuya, a voluntary study group of regional primary physicians, surveyed the management of coronary risk factors and the clinical outcomes.
Methods:
Behavioral patterns of the coronary risk factor was investigated in the management and resultant changes of the risk factors in 209 outpatients (mean age 65.6 +/- 11.2 years) with more than one of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus or prior myocardial infarction for 1 year.
Results:
Prescriptions of anti-hypertensive (from 1.3 +/- 0.8 to 1.4 +/- 0.8 drugs per patient) and antihyperlipidemia drugs (from 0.70 +/- 0.4 to 0.73 +/- 0.4 drugs per patient) did not significantly increase. Patient education for diet (93% to 97%, p = 0.077), exercise (69% to 81%, p < 0.05) and nonsmoking (66% to 86%, p < 0.05) significantly increased after 1 year. Blood pressure decreased from 142 +/- 16/81 +/- 10 to 138 +/- 78/78 +/- 9 mmHg (p < 0.05), serum total cholesterol level decreased from 215 +/- 39 to 203 +/- 39 mg/dl (p < 0.05). As a result, more patients attained the treatment goals recommended in the guidelines by the Japanese Society of Hypertension (34.6% to 46.8%) and Japan Atherosclerosis Society (40.2% to 49.5%), respectively. However, none of blood hemoglobin A1c level, body mass index or smokers significantly changed.
Conclusions:
Regional practitioners attempted to control all coronary risk factors. Hypertension and hyperlipidemia, which are relatively more dependent on the medical management, improved. In contrast, diabetes mellitus, obesity or smoking, which require life style changes, did not improve. The main issue in the risk factor management is how physicians act rather than specific actions.
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