Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Related Medical and Lifestyle Interventions Among Italian Cardiovascular Specialists: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Introduction: Physicians and researchers in the cardiovascular field are constantly engaged in the promotion of guidelines-directed preventive measures, but whether they are themselves adherent to the same recommendations was only sporadically examined. Aim: To assess awareness of self-exposure to cardiovascular risk factors and related management among cardiovascular specialists. Methods: During the National Conference of the Italian Society of Hypertension (October 2022), a pilot observational study on consecutive volunteer cardiovascular specialists was conducted. Participants underwent standard sitting and standing blood pressure (BP) measurements and answered a questionnaire regarding modifiable/non modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and related treatments. Based on self-declarations and actual measurements, BP was classified as optimal, normal, high-normal BP, and new hypertension in untreated participants, and as treated/untreated pre-existing hypertension. Controlled hypertension was defined as BP < 140/90 mmHg; age-adjusted lower targets were also applied, according to guidelines. Results: In total, 62 participants (30 F, mean age 43.2 ± 14.8 years) were enrolled; 79% reported regular physical activity; 53% of women and 38% of men were on a low-salt diet. After smoke (19.4%), dyslipidemia was the second most common risk factor (17.7%), often occurring with high BP (26.3%) and left untreated (36.7%). Pre-existing hypertension (11.3%) was often uncontrolled (57.1%) and associated with non-adherence to guidelines-directed lifestyle recommendations. About one in 12 participants was unaware of having high measured BP values. Conclusions: Despite the specific professional exposure, a margin for improvement in self cardiovascular risk factors awareness and management remains in this exploratory sample of cardiovascular specialists. This pilot research anticipates forthcoming, larger studies during national and international conferences.