GPs' Perceptions of Cardiovascular Risk and Views on Patient Compliance: A Qualitative Interview Study.
Objective. General practitioners' (GPs') perception of risk is a cornerstone of preventive care. The aims of this interview study were to explore GPs' professional and personal attitudes and experiences regarding treatment with lipid-lowering drugs and their views on patient compliance. Methods. The material was drawn from semistructured qualitative interviews. We sampled GPs purposively from ten selected practices, ensuring diversity of demographic, professional, and personal characteristics. The GPs were encouraged to describe examples from their own practices and reflect on them and were informed that the focus was their personal attitudes and experiences. Systematic text condensation was applied for analysis in order to uncover the concepts and themes. Results. The analysis revealed the following 3 main themes: (1) use of cardiovascular guidelines and risk assessment tools, (2) strategies for managing patient compliance, and (3) GPs' own risk management. There were substantial differences in the attitudes concerning all three themes. Conclusions. The substantial differences in the GPs' personal and professional risk perceptions may be a key to understanding why GPs do not always follow cardiovascular guidelines. The impact on daily clinical practice, personal consultation style, and patient behaviour with regard to prevention is worth studying further.
Research Unit for General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winsløws Vej 9A, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Benedicte Lind
BL
Barfoed
Research Unit for General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winsløws Vej 9A, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Dorte Ejg
DE
Jarbøl
Danish Quality Unit for General Practice, JB Winsløws Vej 9A, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Maja Skov
MS
Paulsen
General Practitioners Lærkevej, Lærkevej 14, 5450 Otterup, Denmark.
Palle Mark
PM
Christensen
Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, The Arctic University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway.
Peder Andreas
PA
Halvorsen
Research Unit for General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winsløws Vej 9A, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Jesper Bo
JB
Nielsen
Research Unit for General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winsløws Vej 9A, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Jens
J
Søndergaard