National differences in screening programmes for cardiovascular risks could obstruct understanding of cardiovascular prevention studies in Europe

INTRODUCTION: In North-West Europe, cardiovascular disease is still a major cause of death and despite several efforts (e.g. European guidelines and conferences) cardiovascular risk factors are still inconsistently diagnosed and treated. METHODS: We evaluated the first consultations of patients in two cardiovascular referral clinics in France and the Netherlands, while evaluating the differences in national guidelines and between the profiles of patients at their first consultation. RESULTS: Notable differences exist between the two locally used guidelines in their programmes of cardiovascular risk assessment and their definition of LDL-cholesterol target levels. With regard to the LDL-cholesterol levels, more patients are ‘on target’ when using the French guideline than when using the Dutch guideline. Evaluation of the patient’s profile at first presentation showed that the LDL-cholesterol levels were significantly lower in the Dutch patients (n = 77) compared with the French patients (n = 119). Dutch patients used significantly more statins than French patients. CONCLUSION: Despite the small study population included in this study, we found that comparison of daily care (as part of a primary prevention programme) is rather difficult due to several national differences in the approach to patients. All these factors combined should be taken into account, when discussing and extrapolating results obtained from analysis of cardiovascular prevention programmes.