Rationale and methods of the European Study on Cardiovascular Risk Prevention and Management in Daily Practice (EURIKA).
BACKGROUND
The EURIKA study aims to assess the status of primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) across Europe. Specifically, it will determine the degree of control of cardiovascular risk factors in current clinical practice in relation to the European guidelines on cardiovascular prevention. It will also assess physicians' knowledge and attitudes about CVD prevention as well as the barriers impeding effective risk factor management in clinical practice.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study conducted simultaneously in 12 countries across Europe. The study has two components: firstly at the physician level, assessing eight hundred and nine primary care and specialist physicians with a daily practice in CVD prevention. A physician specific questionnaire captures information regarding physician demographics, practice settings, cardiovascular prevention beliefs and management. Secondly at the patient level, including 7641 patients aged 50 years or older, free of clinical CVD and with at least one classical risk factor, enrolled by the participating physicians. A patient-specific questionnaire captures information from clinical records and patient interview regarding sociodemographic data, CVD risk factors, and current medications. Finally, each patient provides a fasting blood sample, which is sent to a central laboratory for measuring serum lipids, apolipoproteins, hemoglobin-A1c, and inflammatory biomarkers.


CONCLUSIONS
Primary prevention of CVD is an extremely important clinical issue, with preventable circulatory diseases remaining the leading cause of major disease burden. The EURIKA study will provide key information to assess effectiveness of and attitudes toward primary prevention of CVD in Europe. A transnational study creates opportunities for benchmarking good clinical practice across countries and improving outcomes. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00882336).
Rodríguez-Artalejo
Fernando
F
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, Madrid 28029, Spain. fernando.artalejo@uam.es
Guallar
Eliseo
E
Borghi
Claudio
C
Dallongeville
Jean
J
De Backer
Guy
G
Halcox
Julian P
JP
Hernández-Vecino
Ramón
R
Jiménez
Francisco Javier
FJ
Massó-González
Elvira L
EL
Perk
Joep
J
Steg
Philippe Gabriel
PG
Banegas
José R
JR
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000628:therapy*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012107:Research Design; D012308:Risk Management; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires