Current Trends in Lifestyle-Related Disease Management by General Practitioners: A Report from the “Heart Care Network” Groups

Aims: In Japan, it is believed that guidelines for lifestyle-related disease are used in routine clinical practice, however, there are few reports on the actual rate of healthcare conducted in accordance with these guidelines by general practitioners and on their usefulness in preventing cardiovascular events. Therefore, the Heart Care Network (HCN) groups were organized mainly by general practitioners treating lifestyle diseases in 62 areas of Japan. Methods: The HCN has collected data on lifestyle diseases in high-risk patients in routine practices and investigated management conditions, guideline target achievement rates and medication. Additionally, the incidence of cardiovascular events was assessed. Results: We analyzed 14,064 cases. The lipid profile, blood pressure, glycemic control were significantly improved over the 3 years. The incidence of cardiovascular events were significantly reduced by the achievement of target LDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and hemoglobin A1c and even after adjustment for age, gender, history of myocardial infarction, the reduction of these lifestylerelated parameters remains significant. Conclusion: These results revealed the current trends in the healthcare activities of general practitioners, the management conditions for lifestyle diseases in CHD high-risk patients and their effects on reducing cardiovascular events.