Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in developed countries of the world, including Republic of Croatia. The prevention of CVD remains an important factor in reducing total mortality (1). The European Society of Cardiology and related professional societies regularly publish and revise guidelines on CVD prevention. The general objective of this study is to evaluate the appliance of guidelines on CVD prevention in the family physicians’ daily practice. Specific objectives are to examine the availability of guidelines for family physicians, the use of guidelines in their daily work and adherence to guidelines while treating patients with risk factors for CVD.

Methods: Research was conducted on a convenient sample of 745 family physicians. Data on physician’s characteristics (age, sex, practice status) and availability, usage and adherence to CVD prevention guidelines were collected. Appropriate statistical procedures have been used: description and distribution analysis using absolute numbers and relative frequencies.

Results: The survey included 484 family physicians (response rate 65.0%) of which 422 (87.1%) women and 62 (12.5%) men. The majority of the respondents were up to 55 years old (N=346, 71.5%), holding a private practice in concession (N=339, 70.1%). Family physicians assessed the availability of guidelines as frequent and very frequent in 60.7% of consultations. Furthermore, 64.7% of the total number of respondents said they used CVD prevention guidelines in more than 60% of patients, but only 15.9% of respondents strictly adhered to the guidelines.

Conclusion: Relatively large number of family physicians has no CVD prevention guidelines available. It is necessary to find ways to facilitate access to the guidelines and thus encourage their use. Assessment of guideline adherence points out that the guidelines should be implemented in clinical practice in accordance with knowledge, experience, patient preferences, and the social, cultural and economic environment, respecting the model of person-oriented care. (2, 3)