Abstract
BackgroundWhen advising patients on diet and health, the general practitioner (GP) makes judgements based on the evidence available. Since current evidence on diet and cardiovascular disease is conflicted and confusing, we surveyed the current consensus amongst GPs. The aim of this study was to determine the views of GPs on dietary saturated fat, carbohydrates and long chain omega-3 fatty acids in the management of cardiovascular disease.MethodAn online questionnaire inviting participants to comment on seven contentious statements on diet and cardiovascular disease. Questionnaire circulated to the 1800 members of South West Thames Faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). Participants were invited to tick “Agree”, “Disagree” or “Not sure” and were encouraged to add comments for each question. The results were analysed with a combination of statistical analysis and thematic analysis of comments.ResultsThere were 89 responses. Most GPs seem well aware that drug treatment alone is inadequate and that dietary advice is important. However, there was considerable disagreement about the roles of saturated fats and carbohydrates in cardiovascular disease and “Not sure” responses ranged from 12 to 40.7%. The 40.7% related to a statement on long chain omega-3 fatty acids. Analysis of comments revealed more opinions including an awareness of the need to warn patients about trans-fatty acids.ConclusionsAlthough the GP response rate was poor, responders do seem to see dietary advice as part of their role but do not consider themselves as experts. Education in this area should have a higher priority.
Highlights
When advising patients on diet and health, the general practitioner (GP) makes judgements based on the evidence available
A total of 89 GPs responded to the initial questionnaire and a further 19 non-responders completed the questionnaire at the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) meeting
The mean number of years in general practice was 13.7 yrs. and for male GPs average was 17.6 yrs. and for female GPs average was 12 yrs. This data was similar to regional data for age and gender for GPs in South England there was a slight bias in favour of female GPs responding to the questionnare which failed to reach statistical significance (Additional file 2: Appendix 2)
Summary
When advising patients on diet and health, the general practitioner (GP) makes judgements based on the evidence available. Since current evidence on diet and cardiovascular disease is conflicted and confusing, we surveyed the current consensus amongst GPs. The aim of this study was to determine the views of GPs on dietary saturated fat, carbohydrates and long chain omega-3 fatty acids in the management of cardiovascular disease. The average general practitioner (GP) in the United Kingdom (UK) will have received very little education at Griffin and Nichols BMC Family Practice (2018) 19:150 role of long chain omega-3 fatty acids in the management of CVD and advise against routine prescribing of omega-3 acid ethyl esters (Omacor) [9]. A 2017 study lasting 19 years has shown a lower CVD death rate (hazard ratio 0.73) in subjects taking a long term regular daily dose of a long chain omega-3 fatty acid supplement [17].
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