Volkan Doğan1, Özcan Başaran1, Bülent Özlek1, Oğuzhan Çelik1, Eda Özlek1, Cem Çil1, Ibrahim Halil Özdemir2, Ibrahim Rencüzoğulları3, Fatma Özpamuk Karadeniz4, Lütfü Bekar5, Mujdat Aktas6, Mubariz Murat Resulzade7, Macit Kalçık5, Gökhan Aksan8, Göksel Çinier9, Kadriye Halli Akay10, Kadir Ugur Mert11, Murat Biteker1, Meral Kayıkçıoğlu12. 1. Department of Cardiology, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Faculty of Medicine, Muğla, Turkey. 2. Department of Cardiology, Nizip State Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey. 3. Department of Cardiology, Kafkas University Faculty of Medicine, Kars, Turkey. 4. Department of Cardiology, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey. 5. Department of Cardiology, Hitit University Faculty of Medicine, Çorum, Turkey. 6. Department of Cardiology, Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey. 7. Department of Cardiology, Private Hospitalpark Hospital Kocaeli, Turkey. 8. Department of Cardiology, Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey. 9. Department of Cardiology, Dr. Siyami Ersek Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey. 10. Department of Cardiology, Kocaeli State Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey. 11. Department of Cardiology, Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir, Turkey. 12. Department of Cardiology, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, İzmir, Turkey.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Few studies have directly assessed suboptimal management of dyslipidemia in Turkey. This study was conducted to assess patients' understanding and perceptions of high cholesterol as well as physicians' knowledge and awareness of lipid management strategies. METHODS: This was a multicenter, observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02608645). Consecutive patients admitted to the participating cardiology clinics who were at least 18 years of age and who had been classified in a secondary prevention (SP) group or a high-risk primary prevention (PP) group were enrolled. The study population included 1868 patients from 40 sites in Turkey. Two-thirds (67.5%) of the patients in the SP group had been prescribed a statin, whereas only 30.1% of the PP group patients received statin therapy (p<0.001). RESULTS: It was determined that 18% of the SP patients and 10.6% of the PP patients had a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level at the recommended level (p<0.001). A patient survey revealed that almost half of the patients in the PP and in the SP groups were aware that their cholesterol levels were high. Negative information about statin treatment disseminated by media programs was the most common reason (9.4%) given for treatment discontinuation. CONCLUSION: Perceptions, knowledge and compliance with the guidelines for PP and SP patients in real-life practice have increased, but it remains far below the desired level. Patients and physicians should have more information about the treatment of hyperlipidemia. More accurate media programming could help to prevent the dissemination of misinformation.
OBJECTIVE: Few studies have directly assessed suboptimal management of dyslipidemia in Turkey. This study was conducted to assess patients' understanding and perceptions of high cholesterol as well as physicians' knowledge and awareness of lipid management strategies. METHODS: This was a multicenter, observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02608645). Consecutive patients admitted to the participating cardiology clinics who were at least 18 years of age and who had been classified in a secondary prevention (SP) group or a high-risk primary prevention (PP) group were enrolled. The study population included 1868 patients from 40 sites in Turkey. Two-thirds (67.5%) of the patients in the SP group had been prescribed a statin, whereas only 30.1% of the PP group patients received statin therapy (p<0.001). RESULTS: It was determined that 18% of the SP patients and 10.6% of the PP patients had a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level at the recommended level (p<0.001). A patient survey revealed that almost half of the patients in the PP and in the SP groups were aware that their cholesterol levels were high. Negative information about statin treatment disseminated by media programs was the most common reason (9.4%) given for treatment discontinuation. CONCLUSION: Perceptions, knowledge and compliance with the guidelines for PP and SP patients in real-life practice have increased, but it remains far below the desired level. Patients and physicians should have more information about the treatment of hyperlipidemia. More accurate media programming could help to prevent the dissemination of misinformation.