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Cardiology Insights 2019
Journal of Heart and Cardiovascular Research
ISSN: 2576-1455
Page 38
March 07-08, 2019
Berlin, Germany
New Horizons in Cardiology
& Cardiologists Education
22
nd
International Conference on
J Heart Cardiovasc Res 2019, Volume 3
DOI: 10.21767/2576-1455-C1-003
Attitudes and recommendations of physicians towards
alcohol consumption and cardiovascular health: A
perspective from Argentina
Ricardo Lopez Santi
Hospital Italiano de La Plata, Argentina
D
espite epidemiological findings of improvements in
cardiovascular risk factors with a light-to-moderate
intake of alcohol, many misconceptions remain
regarding alcohol intake and the risks and benefits of
consumption. We sought to examine physician attitudes
and recommendations regarding alcohol intake in a
cohort of Argentine physicians and to establish their
sources of knowledge. An online national survey was
distributed through the Argentine Federation Cardiology
(FAC) to cardiologists, internal medicine specialists,
general and other subspecialty physicians in Argentina.
The survey was completed by 745 physicians, of whom
671 (90%) were cardiologists. In total, 35% of physicians
viewed moderate alcohol intake to be beneficial for
cardiovascular health, 36% believed only wine offered
such benefits, 24% viewed any intake to be harmful,
and 5% had other opinions. More than half (57%) self-
reported their knowledge came from academic sources.
Regarding knowledge of drinking guidelines, only 41% of
physicians were aware of the concept of “standard drink”.
Physicians were generally not comfortable converting
standard drinks into other metric units, however men
tended to be more comfortable than women (p=0.052).
Physicians were not satisfied with their knowledge
of drinking guidelines (3.01±2.73, on a 0–10 scale).
Physicians were generally comfortable in counselling
patients regarding safe limits of consumption (6.22±3.20,
on a 0–10 scale). Argentine physicians were not satisfied
with their knowledge of alcohol consumption guidelines
or their understanding of the reported metrics. Only one-
thirdof studyparticipantsviewedmoderatealcohol intake
as beneficial for cardiovascular health. This study shows
the necessity to optimize the sources of knowledge.