Assessment of physicians’ awareness and knowledge of familial hypercholesterolemia in Saudi Arabia: Is there a gap?

BACKGROUND The scarcity of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) cases reported in Saudi Arabia might be indicative of a lack of awareness of this common genetic disease among physicians. OBJECTIVE To assess physicians' awareness, practice, and knowledge of FH in Saudi Arabia. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study conducted among physicians at four tertiary hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between March 2016 and May 2016 using a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 294 physicians completed the survey (response rate 90.1%). Overall, 92.9% of the participants have poor knowledge of FH while only 7.1% have acceptable knowledge. The majority (68.7%) of physicians rated their familiarity with FH as average or above average, and these had higher mean knowledge scores than participants with self-reported below average familiarity (mean 3.4 versus 2.6) (P < 0.001). Consultant physicians were 4.2 times more likely to be familiar with FH than residents or registrars (OR = 4.2, 95% CI = 1.9-9.1, P < 0.001). Physicians who currently managed FH patients had higher mean knowledge scores compared to those without FH patients in their care (3.5 versus 2.9) (P = 0.006). In addition, there were statistically significant differences between physicians' mean knowledge scores and their ages, levels of training, and years in practice. Moreover, a substantial deficit was identified in the awareness of various clinical algorithms to diagnose patients with FH, cascade screening, specialist lipid services, and the existence of statin alternatives, such as proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors. CONCLUSION A substantial deficit was found in the awareness, knowledge, practice, and detection of FH among physicians in Saudi Arabia. Extensive educational programs are required to raise physician awareness and implement best practices; only then can the impact of these interventions on FH management and patient outcome be assessed.