Health care quality can be defined as the degree to which the health care delivered services increase the probability of obtaining the desired health results and are consistent with current knowledge. However, a considerable number of patients receive interventions without adequate prior evaluation of their safety, effectiveness or cost-effectiveness. Consequently, patients may receive inappropriate care, with non-beneficial or even harmful interventions. In 2011, it was estimated that up to 30% of medical practices in the US could be classified as low-value general practices, with a cost of between 158 and 226 billion dollars. In addition to the financial cost, low-value practices have various negative physical and emotional consequences. Therefore, a strategy aimed at improving the health of the population, promoting an efficient use of resources and minimizing damage must address the option of abandoning interventions whose benefit has not been demonstrated and/or adapt them in terms of their form of administration, targeting a population where the benefit/risk ratio is appropriate. Information is provided on the magnitude and determinants of an under evaluated problem. We have adopted an approach based on the recommended practice of guiding primary prevention based on global estimates of CVR, rather than plasma cholesterol levels. In addition, our study simultaneously evaluates the pattern of provision of healthy lifestyle advice together with the start of statin PIPs and it is, to our knowledge, the first study with this approach. We have focused the study on the beginning of prescription, which makes it possible to identify more clearly a specific area susceptible to the implementation of educational strategies and other measures to match scientific evidence with actual general practice.