Physician attitudes toward treatment options for cerebrovascular disease.
One-hundred physicians older than 50 and 100 physicians younger than 50 were surveyed concerning treatment preferences for patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or completed stroke. These attitudes were compared to cardiovascular disease prevention strategies for patients with angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Physicians younger than 50 were therapeutically aggressive for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease; physicians older than 50 were aggressive for cardiovascular disease but therapeutically nihilistic for cerebrovascular disease. Physicians younger than 50 were more likely to be aggressive for TIA than for completed stroke patients, and these physicians were more likely to utilize ticlopidine and oral anticoagulants for both TIA and completed stroke patients.
Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tulane Medical School, New Orleans, LA, U.S.A.
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Weisberg