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Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: With the emergence of new lipid-lowering therapies, more patients are expected to achieve substantial lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, there are limited data examining the clinical experience of patients with low (<1.3 mmol/L) or very low (<0.65 mmo...

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Autores principales: Schmidt, Sigrun Alba Johannesdottir, Heide-Jørgensen, Uffe, Manthripragada, Angelika D, Ehrenstein, Vera
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345998/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25759600
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CLEP.S77676
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author Schmidt, Sigrun Alba Johannesdottir
Heide-Jørgensen, Uffe
Manthripragada, Angelika D
Ehrenstein, Vera
author_facet Schmidt, Sigrun Alba Johannesdottir
Heide-Jørgensen, Uffe
Manthripragada, Angelika D
Ehrenstein, Vera
author_sort Schmidt, Sigrun Alba Johannesdottir
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: With the emergence of new lipid-lowering therapies, more patients are expected to achieve substantial lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, there are limited data examining the clinical experience of patients with low (<1.3 mmol/L) or very low (<0.65 mmol/L) levels of LDL-C. To provide information on patients with low LDL-C, we identified and characterized persons with low LDL-C using data from Danish medical databases. METHODS: Using a population-based clinical laboratory database, we identified adults with at least one LDL-C measurement in northern Denmark between 1998 and 2011 (population approximately 1.5 million persons). Based on the lowest measurement during the study period, we divided patients into groups with low (<1.3 mmol/L), moderate (1.3–3.3 mmol/L), or high (>3.3 mmol/L) LDL-C. We described their demographic characteristics, entire comorbidity history, and 90-day prescription history prior to the lowest LDL-C value measured. Finally, we further restricted the analysis to individuals with very low LDL-C (<0.65 mmol/L). RESULTS: Among 765,503 persons with an LDL-C measurement, 23% had high LDL-C, 73% had moderate LDL-C, and 4.8% had low LDL-C. In the latter group, 9.6% (0.46% of total) had very low LDL-C. Compared with the moderate and high LDL-C categories, the low LDL-C group included more males and older persons with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, ulcer disease, and obesity, as measured by hospital diagnoses or relevant prescription drugs for these diseases. Cancer and use of psychotropic drugs were also more prevalent. These patterns of distribution became even more pronounced when restricting to individuals with very low LDL-C. CONCLUSION: Using Danish medical databases, we identified a cohort of patients with low LDL-C and found that cohort members differed from patients with higher LDL-C levels. These differences may be explained by various factors, including prescribing patterns of lipid-lowering therapies.
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spelling pubmed-43459982015-03-10 Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study Schmidt, Sigrun Alba Johannesdottir Heide-Jørgensen, Uffe Manthripragada, Angelika D Ehrenstein, Vera Clin Epidemiol Original Research BACKGROUND: With the emergence of new lipid-lowering therapies, more patients are expected to achieve substantial lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, there are limited data examining the clinical experience of patients with low (<1.3 mmol/L) or very low (<0.65 mmol/L) levels of LDL-C. To provide information on patients with low LDL-C, we identified and characterized persons with low LDL-C using data from Danish medical databases. METHODS: Using a population-based clinical laboratory database, we identified adults with at least one LDL-C measurement in northern Denmark between 1998 and 2011 (population approximately 1.5 million persons). Based on the lowest measurement during the study period, we divided patients into groups with low (<1.3 mmol/L), moderate (1.3–3.3 mmol/L), or high (>3.3 mmol/L) LDL-C. We described their demographic characteristics, entire comorbidity history, and 90-day prescription history prior to the lowest LDL-C value measured. Finally, we further restricted the analysis to individuals with very low LDL-C (<0.65 mmol/L). RESULTS: Among 765,503 persons with an LDL-C measurement, 23% had high LDL-C, 73% had moderate LDL-C, and 4.8% had low LDL-C. In the latter group, 9.6% (0.46% of total) had very low LDL-C. Compared with the moderate and high LDL-C categories, the low LDL-C group included more males and older persons with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, ulcer disease, and obesity, as measured by hospital diagnoses or relevant prescription drugs for these diseases. Cancer and use of psychotropic drugs were also more prevalent. These patterns of distribution became even more pronounced when restricting to individuals with very low LDL-C. CONCLUSION: Using Danish medical databases, we identified a cohort of patients with low LDL-C and found that cohort members differed from patients with higher LDL-C levels. These differences may be explained by various factors, including prescribing patterns of lipid-lowering therapies. Dove Medical Press 2015-02-26 /pmc/articles/PMC4345998/ /pubmed/25759600 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CLEP.S77676 Text en © 2015 Schmidt et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Original Research
Schmidt, Sigrun Alba Johannesdottir
Heide-Jørgensen, Uffe
Manthripragada, Angelika D
Ehrenstein, Vera
Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study
title Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study
title_full Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study
title_fullStr Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study
title_short Prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern Denmark: a descriptive study
title_sort prevalence and characteristics of patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in northern denmark: a descriptive study
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345998/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25759600
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CLEP.S77676
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