Samenvatting

Background: Cardiovascular diseases is a growing problem in the Netherlands. It is the most important cause of death in women, and second cause of death in men. In 2012, 15% of the Dutch population visited the General Practitioner for cardiovascular complaints or diseases. The Nederlandse Huisartsen Genootschap guideline addresses that dietary intake can modify cardiovascular risk. However, it is unknown what primary care providers do with regard to dietary assessment in Cardiovascular Risk Management consultations. Possibly there are barriers to make dietary assessment possible. The assumption is that primary care providers do not have time for dietary assessment and that they also lack the diet-related knowledge. Perhaps they lack a simple tool to help them with the dietary assessment. This research has taken a closer view on it. Research question: What can be improved with regard to dietary assessment of people at high risk for cardiovascular disease in the general practice in The Netherlands? Methods: For this research, interviews were conducted under primary care providers to collect information about the current way of dietary assessment in Cardiovascular Risk Management consultations in the general practice. In the interviews it was also asked what primary care providers think about their way of assessing diet, if they see room for improvement and how it can be improved. It was aimed to recruit 18 primary care providers. Eventually, 9 primary care providers were recruited. Furthermore, a systematic literature search was conducted to search for dietary assessment tools that are used in Cardiovascular Risk Management consultations in the general practice. Results: Primary care providers find dietary assessment important within Cardiovascular Risk Management, but that they do not have the same knowledge as a dietician to assess the diet specifically. Also they lack time to do so and procedures regarding dietary assessment are not always standardized in the general practices. Primary care providers find a tool, that can be used for dietary assessment before consultation, useful. One tool was found in literature: the ‘Rate Your Plate’. An American dietary assessment tool that easily can be filled in before consultation. Conclusion: A simple Prior-to-Consultation dietary assessment tool, like the Rate Your Plate (RYP) tool, is desired by primary care physicians for Cardiovascular Risk Management consultations as they believe it is a proper solution to tackle the restrictors ‘lack of time’ and ‘lack of standardization’