Table 1.
Summary of primary care physician’s (PCP) demographics and responses to questions (%) about awareness, knowledge, practices and preferences regarding familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in ‘10 countries’
| Country/region | Australia | Japan | Malaysia | South Korea | Philippines | Hong Kong | China | Vietnam | Taiwan | UK15 |
| Number of PCPs | 151 | 197 | 219 | 97 | 62 | 59 | 118 | 137 | 38 | 100 |
| Demographics | ||||||||||
| Male | 62% | 84% | 24% | 81% | 37% | 53% | 42% | 46% | 74% | 42% |
| Urban/metropolitan | 52% | 49% | 63% | 82% | 63% | 100% | 82% | 40% | 100% | 47% |
| Suburban/outer metropolitan | 33% | 30% | 0% | 14% | 15% | 0% | 18% | 27% | 0% | 44% |
| Rural | 16% | 21% | 37% | 4% | 23% | 0% | 0% | 33% | 0% | 9% |
| Awareness | ||||||||||
| Familiarity of FH rated as above average | 32% | 23% | 38% | 28% | 34% | 50% | 23% | 49% | 47% | 39% |
| Awareness about FH guidelines | 36% | 47% | 35% | 34% | N/A | 43% | 8% | 28% | 53% | 61% |
| Awareness about lipid specialists | 51% | 33% | 34% | 30% | 31% | 40% | 12% | 39% | 57% | 50% |
| Knowledge | ||||||||||
| Correctly described FH | 72% | 77% | 86% | 51% | 73% | 62% | 75% | 65% | 60% | 89% |
| Correctly identified lipid profile | 59% | 85% | 65% | 57% | 48% | 51% | 85% | 45% | 61% | 74% |
| Correctly identified prevalence of FH in the community | 26% | 41% | 24% | 19% | 16% | 11% | 17% | 14% | 30% | 30% |
| Correctly identified the transmission rate of FH to first-degree relatives | 44% | 40% | 49% | 42% | 37% | 49% | 36% | 26% | 61% | 51% |
| Correctly identified the cardiovascular disease risk in untreated patients with FH | 14% | 13% | 9% | 8% | 10% | 7% | 4% | 2% | 5% | 14% |
| Correctly identified that genetic testing was not required to accurately diagnose FH | 50% | 52% | 47% | 64% | 68% | 38% | 38% | 58% | 24% | 52% |
| Selected statins to best treat hypercholesterolaemia | 89% | 85% | 96% | 90% | 95% | 93% | 95% | 75% | 95% | 94% |
| Selected a combination of statin and ezetimibe to treat severe hypercholesterolaemia | 64% | 48% | 56% | 70% | 48% | 49% | 77% | 31% | 63% | 50% |
| Practice | ||||||||||
| Screened patients with premature coronary artery disease for family history | 93% | 83% | 95% | 89% | 92% | 95% | 94% | 85% | 95% | 90% |
| Performed routine family screening of patients with FH (if there were patients with FH under their care) | 86% | 30% | 82% | 50% | 53% | 90% | 47% | 83% | 77% | 73% |
| The most prevalent age for screening young people in a kindred with FH was 13–18 years, which was selected by | 52% | 18% | 52% | 54% | 52% | 48% | 16% | 33% | 20% | 45% |
| Have referred patients with FH to a lipid specialists (if aware of lipid specialist) | 66% | 26% | 52% | 57% | 32% | 86% | 86% | 49% | 100% | 72% |
| Preference | ||||||||||
| Selected PCPs as the most effective healthcare provider for the early detection of FH | 80% | 45% | 92% | 71% | 58% | 76% | 8% | 23% | 50% | 82% |
| Selected interpretive commenting on lipid profiles to highlight patients at risk of FH | 89% | 57% | 92% | 84% | 92% | 85% | 86% | 72% | 89% | 88% |