Diabetes en cardiovasculaire risicobepalingen in Belgische officina-apotheken

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease are major health problems related to a number of modifiable risk factors such as obesity, an unhealthy lifestyle, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Early detection and management of these risk factors are essential to avoid severe long-term complications. Until now, screening for risk factors for T2DM and cardiovascular diseases in Belgium has been largely the task of the general practitioner. However, various international studies show that the community pharmacist can play a complementary role in this.



This article provides an overview of the Belgian projects with T2DM and cardiovascular risk assessment in pharmacies. Between 2014 and 2021, there were 5 projects with T2DM and cardiovascular risk assessment in the community pharmacy in Belgium. These projects show that community pharmacists have screening tools at their disposal to perform an adequate risk assessment. Relative to the total number of patients screened, the percentage of patients referred by the pharmacist because of a high risk for T2DM varied between 25% and 58%. In 1 project with an additional cardiovascular risk assessment, 63% was referred because of an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

These results highlight the potential for the pharmacist’s role in the prevention of DM and cardiovascular diseases. Due to their proximity and accessibility, pharmacists can play an important complementary social role in the early recognition of chronic diseases in people who do not or irregularly use medical care.