Compliance With Dyslipidemia Guidelines in Daily Practice: How Effective Is Cardiovascular Risk Prevention?

PURPOSE: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to atherosclerosis is the leading cause of early mortality and morbidity. The current European guidelines on CVD prevention in clinical practice recommend the use of the Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE) system. The current American Heart Association guidelines recommend the use of the new pooled cohort risk assessment equations to estimate the 10-year atherosclerotic CVD risk. The purpose of this article was to investigate the compliance of dyslipidemia guidelines in daily practice in patients with dyslipidemia or who have risk factors for CVD.

METHODS: The study group consisted of 500 outpatients who had dyslipidemia or risk factors for CVD. The risk level was computed according to the European and American Heart Association guidelines. Therapeutic LDL-C targets were identified based on the calculated risk level. Therapeutic target levels were compared based on the dosage of statins used and achievement of the LDL-C goal in daily practice according to the risk levels.

FINDINGS: According to the European dyslipidemia guidelines, 231 patients were in the very-high/high-risk group, and 106 patients (45.9%) achieved the LDL-C target (<100 mg/dL); 210 patients were in the moderate-risk group, and 156 (74.3%) patients achieved the LDL-C target (<115 mg/dL); and 59 patients were in the low-risk group, and 55 (93.2%) patients achieved the LDL-C target (<155 mg/dL). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that the LDL-C level and presence of coronary artery disease were significantly reverse associated with achievement of the LDL-C goal (both, P < 0.001).

IMPLICATIONS: Our results showed that the majority of patients were in the very-high/high-risk group in daily practice. Although the European dyslipidemia guidelines are more likely to be used in daily practice, achievement of the guidelines-recommended treatment goals was low.