Abstract
Background
Real-world evidence of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal attainment rates for Asian patients is deficient. The objective of this study was to assess the status of dyslipidemia management, especially in high-risk patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) including stroke and acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
Methods
This was a retrospective cohort study of 514,866 subjects from the National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening Cohort database in Korea. Participants were followed up from 2002 to 2015. Subjects with a high-risk of CVD prior to LDL-C measurement and subjects who were newly-diagnosed for high-risk of CVD following LDL-C measurement were defined as known high-risk patients (n = 224,837) and newly defined high-risk patients (n = 127,559), respectively. Data were analyzed by disease status: stroke, ACS, coronary heart disease (CHD), peripheral artery disease (PAD), diabetes mellitus (DM) and atherosclerotic artery disease (AAD).
Results
Overall, less than 50% of patients in each disease category achieved LDL-C goals (LDL-C < 70 mg/dL in patients with stroke, ACS, CHD and PAD; and LDL-C < 100 mg/dL in patients with DM and AAD). Statin use was observed in relatively low proportions of subjects (21.5% [known high-risk], 34.4% [newly defined high-risk]). LDL-C goal attainment from 2009 to 2015 steadily increased but the goal-achiever proportion of newly defined high-risk patients with ACS remained reasonably constant (38.7% in 2009; 38.1% in 2015).
Conclusions
LDL-C goal attainment rates in high-risk patients with CVD and DM in Korea demonstrate unmet medical needs. Proactive management is necessary to bridge the gap between the recommendations of clinical guidelines and actual clinical practice.
Strategies to achieve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol targets in high-risk patients
