PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - T. N. Tannenbaum AU - J. S. Sampalis AU - R. N. Battista AU - E. R. Rosenberg AU - L. Joseph TI - Early detection and treatment of hyperlipidemia: physician practices in Canada DP - 1990 Nov 01 TA - Canadian Medical Association Journal PG - 875--881 VI - 143 IP - 9 4099 - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/143/9/875.short 4100 - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/143/9/875.full SO - CMAJ1990 Nov 01; 143 AB - We surveyed primary care physicians in Canada to determine their current practices regarding the detection and treatment of hyperlipidemia in asymptomatic adults 20 years of age or more and to determine the role of selected patient characteristics (age, sex and the presence of coronary heart disease [CHD] risk factors) in their management decisions. The self-administered questionnaire was completed by 428 of 804 family physicians and general practitioners. The proportion of physicians who reported having tested at least 50% of their adult patients varied from 29% to 85% and was related to the number of CHD risk factors present and the patient's age. The proportion of respondents who reported starting dietary or drug therapy among patients with a cholesterol level of 6.2 mmol/L or less increased as the number of CHD risk factors increased and was not related to patient age or sex. According to the factors examined our results suggest that primary care physicians in Canada select patients for screening and treatment mainly on the basis of CHD risk factors present and that their approach is more conservative than that recommended by the Canadian and US consensus conferences.