• Anne-Karien M de Waard, Monika Hollander, Joke C Korevaar, Mark M J Nielen, Axel C Carlsson, Christos Lionis, Bohumil Seifert, Trine Thilsing, Niek J de Wit, François G Schellevis, and SPIMEU Project Group.
• Department of General Practice, Julius Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
• Eur J Public Health. 2019 Feb 1; 29 (1): 88-93.

BackgroundCardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are the number one cause of death. Selective prevention of CMDs by general practitioners (GPs) could help reduce the burden of CMDs. This measure would entail the identification of individuals at high risk of CMDs-but currently asymptomatic-followed by interventions to reduce their risk. No data were available on the attitude and the extent to which European GPs have incorporated selective CMD prevention into daily practice.MethodsA survey among 575 GPs from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands and Sweden was conducted between September 2016 and January 2017, within the framework of the SPIMEU-project.ResultsOn average, 71% of GPs invited their patients to attend for CMD risk assessment. Some used an active approach (47%) while others used an opportunistic approach (53%), but these values differed between countries. Most GPs considered selective CMD prevention as useful (82%) and saw it as part of their normal duties (84%). GPs who did find selective prevention useful were more likely to actively invite individuals compared with their counterparts who did not find prevention useful. Most GPs had a disease management programme for individuals with risk factor(s) for cardiovascular disease (71%) or diabetes (86%).ConclusionsAlthough most GPs considered selective CMD prevention as useful, it was not universally implemented. The biggest challenge was the process of inviting individuals for risk assessment. It is important to tailor the implementation of selective CMD prevention in primary care to the national context, involving stakeholders at different levels.

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