Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud

Background and Objective: Arterial Stiffness (AS) measured as pulse wave velocity has emerged in recent years as a hypertension mediated organ damage with independent prognostic value for Cardiovascular (CV) diseases that has also been discussed as a potential cause of Hypertension (HTN). The aim of this study is to (1) evaluate how measurement of AS modifies CV risk calculation by SCORE, (2) to measure the predictive value of AS for incident hypertension in normotensive patients, and (3) to analyze the association between control of HTN and presence of AS in sustained HTN. Patients and Methods: A longitudinal, prospective, observational trial under conditions of daily pharmaceutical and clinical practice will be conducted in approximately 60 community pharmacies of the Iberian Peninsula in normotensive and/or hypertensive patients entering a pharmacy spontaneously. In the first cross-sectional step, AS will be estimated with a semiautomatic, validated device (Mobil-O-Graph®, IEM), followed by a 10-item questionnaire. The patients will be referred to Primary Care for stratifying risk by SCORE tables and standard evaluation. In the second longitudinal step, patients will be asked to repeat the visit after 12 months. Discussion: This study aims to improve CV risk stratification and to investigate the potential of AS in predicting incident HTN in normotensive subjects. Besides, it will analyze the role of arterial stiffness as an associated factor to prevent control in sustained HTN in a setting of cooperation between community pharmacies and physicians in daily clinical practice.

Community pharmacists and general practitioners have daily contact with patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but the number of positive cases constantly increases every day. Thus, the aim of this research is to describe the level of AD knowledge among community pharmacists and general practitioners in Spain, in order to see where the biggest gaps in the knowledge are. Therefore, a cross-sectional study has been carried out, using the Alzheimer’s disease knowledge survey (ADKS), among members of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Pharmacy to report the differences in AD knowledge in both professional collectives. The ADKS has been responded by 578 community pharmacists and 104 general practitioners and consists of a battery of 30 questions, whose possible answers are true or false. It assesses the AD knowledge in seven areas (impact on the disease, risk factors, course of the disease, diagnosis, care, treatment and symptoms). Results indicate that Spanish pharmacists and general practitioners have a high personal knowledge of AD, nevertheless, it is not associated with greater awareness. Both scored above 80% at the categories: diagnostic, treatment and symptoms. However, lower knowledge level (60% of correct answers) was found in those related to risk factors, such as the ignorance about hypercholesterolemia or hypertension as risk factors for the disease. Community pharmacists are already acting to control cardiovascular risk factors, but a wider knowledge of the relationship of these factors to AD is needed to act against these silent risk factors. Thus, pharmacists may also be involved in the management of AD that includes recognizing early symptoms for early detection of cognitive impairment. Hence, knowledge about risk factors is very important in developing this expanding role.