Study of the vascular age calculator as a tool to reduce cardiovascular risk in community pharmacies

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Spain. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of these premature deaths are avoidable by reducing the modifiable risk factors of CVD. Research indicates that patients better understand their true risk when information is presented to them in vascular age (VA). Community pharmacists (CP) are well situated to assess patientsVA, provide professional educational advice, and implement interventions for reducing cardiovascular risk (CVR).Aim: The explicit objective of this thesis was to create a patient-centred, accurate and accessible tool that allows the CPs in Spain to estimate the VA and design a personalized intervention aimed at reducing the patient’s VA.Method: A website was created and included an original questionnaire, the vascular age calculator (VAC), detailed protocols for the pharmacist’s intervention and the patient’s information leaflets on CVR factors. The webpage user’s perceptions were analysed via a 26-item self-completion online survey distributed among CPs using a Google forum. Informed consent was taken from the CPs to participate in the study. The responses to the survey were collected anonymously. Open and closed questions were used to gain a wide range of replies and an in-depth understanding. The questionnaire from the pilot study was available online from the 1st August 2020 to the 31st of February 2021. The results were analysed using the STATA package version 12.0 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA). The NVivo software was used for assessing the descriptive findings...