ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2003
A qualitative study of barriers to the use of statins and the implementation of coronary heart disease prevention in primary care.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Periodic reflections: a method of guided discussions for documenting implementation phenomena.BMC medical research methodology · 2018Trial
- Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Target Attainment in Lithuania: A Nationwide Analysis of Real-World Health Data.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Article
- Using the Practical Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) to Identify and Address Provider-Perceived Barriers to Optimal Statin Prescribing and Use in Community Health Centers.Health promotion practice · 2023Article
- Effect of 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline Change on Statin Prescription for People Living with HIV.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- Use of electronic patient data overview with alerts in primary care increases prescribing of lipid-lowering medications in patients with type 2 diabetes.Diabetologia · 2022Article
- Implementing clinical decision support for reducing women Veterans' cardiovascular risk in VA: A mixed-method, longitudinal study of context, adaptation, and uptake.Frontiers in health services · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Impact of lowering the risk threshold for statin treatment on statin prescribing: a descriptive study in English primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- Article
- Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Risk in Lithuania-Results from EUROASPIRE V Survey.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2020Observational
- Article
- Views of primary care physicians and rheumatologists regarding screening and treatment of hyperlipidemia among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.BMC rheumatology · 2020Article
- Article
- Healthcare professionals' perception of quality of care of patients with cardiac disease in Nigeria: Implication for clinical guideline, inter-professional education and team work.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2019Article
- Improving long-term adherence to statin therapy: a qualitative study of GPs' experiences in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Article
- Under-prescribing of Prevention Drugs and Primary Prevention of Stroke and Transient Ischaemic Attack in UK General Practice: A Retrospective Analysis.PLoS medicine · 2016Article
- Why are statin prescribing guidelines for primary prevention not always followed in primary care?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStatin prescribing to prevent coronary heart disease is well below recommended levels. Studies suggest that the prescribing behaviour of doctors may be the biggest factor in the wide variation in statin prescribing in general practice. Understanding doctors' perceptions offers some insight into why variation occurs.
aimTo understand general practitioners' (GPs') views about barriers to statin prescribing, statin prescribing guidelines, and the successes and barriers to coronary prevention in primary care. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews.
settingGeneral practices in mid and south Bedfordshire.
methodInterviews with 26 GPs.
resultsGPs spoke of a variety of barriers to initiating statin treatment specifically, and coronary heart disease prevention generally. Barriers to statin prescribing included: concerns about cost; increased workload and adherence to treatment; variation in treatment targets for lowering cholesterol; and concerns about medicalisation, lifestyle, and health behaviour. GPs found it difficult to prioritize patients for statin treatment, their statin treatment targets varied, and many found primary prevention risk assessment tools difficult to interpret. Coronary prevention was limited by practice space and organisational issues, by problems with recording and retrieval of electronic data, and by limited doctor and nurse time. GPs suggested that funded nurse time, nurse-led heart disease clinics, and better use of electronic data would improve primary care coronary prevention.
conclusionThere are complex barriers to statin prescribing and coronary prevention in general practice, which may explain some of the variation that exists. Further studies of patients' views of statins may provide more information. More resources, improved guidance, and better dissemination of guidance may only address some of the issues.
Indexed as
Identifiers
15103875PMC1314690What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.