Evidence-based cardiovascular care. Family physicians' views of obstacles and opportunities

To explore obstacles to and opportunities for applying specific lifestyle and pharmacologic recommendations on chronic ischemic heart disease. Qualitative study. Rural, town, and city settings in Nova Scotia. Fifty family physicians caring for patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease. Nine focus gr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian family physician 2004-10, Vol.50 (10), p.1397-1405
Main Authors: Putnam, Wayne, Twohig, Peter L, Burge, Frederick I, Jackson, Lois A, Cox, Jafna L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude of Health Personnel
Canada
Cardiovascular disease
Evidence-Based Medicine
Family medicine
Focus Groups
Humans
Life Style
Management
Myocardial Ischemia - therapy
Physician-Patient Relations
Physicians, Family
Practice Patterns, Physicians
Primary Health Care
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Summary:To explore obstacles to and opportunities for applying specific lifestyle and pharmacologic recommendations on chronic ischemic heart disease. Qualitative study. Rural, town, and city settings in Nova Scotia. Fifty family physicians caring for patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease. Nine focus groups were conducted, audiotaped, and transcribed. Seven recommendations had been selected for discussion based on their relevance to primary care, strength, and class of supporting evidence. Analysis was guided by grounded-theory methodology. "Ischemic events" can be powerful motivators for change, whereas the asymptomatic nature of CV risks and distant outcomes can form obstacles. Trust built through previous experiences and the opportunity to repeat important messages can facilitate application of evidence, but patient-physician relationships can also pose obstacles. Physicians can take steps to improve care, but success at reducing CV risks depends upon active involvement of many health professionals and community resources. Future guideline implementation should focus on patient-oriented issues, such as comorbidity and treatment preferences.
ISSN:0008-350X
1715-5258