[Roles of the general practitioner and the vascular medicine physician for patient education concerning venous thromboembolism: The patient's perspective]

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism and deep-vein thrombosis) is a frequent, serious but also chronic disease. Studies reported that both general practitioners (GPs) and vascular medicine physicians (VMPs) report participating in patient education concerning venous thromboembolic disease.

Objective: To assess the role of GPs and VMPs in venous thromboembolic disease patient education, examining the patient's perspective.

Method: Phone survey of the French patients recruited in the CACTUS trial assessing anticoagulant treatment in case of first distal deep-vein thrombosis.

Results: Among the 103 participating patients, 92% (n=95) reported being satisfied by information provided by the GP and VMP. Information was considered as necessary in 96% of cases (n=99). Eighty-five percent of patients (n=88) felt they did not need complementary information. The VMP would have spent more time on education as compared with the GP (an entire consultation in 93.2% vs. 38.8% of cases respectively) the information provided by the VMP being also clearer and more complete. More than 75% of patients reported that no physician warned them about risks of anticoagulants, long-term complications of venous thromboembolic disease or its prevention.

Conclusion: In CACTUS, patients reported being satisfied by information provided by their managing physicians and information provided by the VMP was clearer and more complete. Important education messages may not have been delivered suggesting the need for a standardization of venous thromboembolic disease patient's education.