Physicians' perspectives on cholesterol and heart disease.

In early spring of 1988, questionnaires were mailed to 4,000 Midwestern physicians to survey their attitudes and practices regarding elevated serum cholesterol and their use of referrals for nutrition counseling; 633 physicians responded. Sixty-eight percent of the physicians thought that reducing high serum cholesterol levels would substantially affect heart disease; however, physicians attributed considerably less preventive value to reducing the cholesterol level than to reducing blood pressure (80.3%) or ceasing smoking (90.0%). The range of serum cholesterol for which diet therapy was most frequently initiated was 5.70 to 6.20 mmol/L. The most frequent range for initiation of drug therapy was 7.80 to 8.25 mmol/L. The physicians reported that although their medical school training did not prepare them adequately for providing diet counseling, they did feel prepared to provide, and were successful in, counseling on diet modifications for reducing serum cholesterol. Few (10%) of the total sample reported having registered dietitians available for dietary counseling, and most (88.8%) believed that it is the physician's responsibility to provide such counseling. Although the low response rate limits the conclusions of the survey, it is likely that those physicians most interested in the topic responded. We conclude that registered dietitians should explore the need for their special services further. More aggressive marketing of dietetic services could benefit both physicians and patients in the campaign to reduce serum cholesterol.