Residual dyslipidaemia after statin treatment in France: Prevalence and risk distribution

Abstract

Residual dyslipidaemia in patients treated with statins needs to be addressed to reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in primary and secondary care. To estimate the prevalence of residual lipid abnormalities in statin-treated patients in France. Plasma concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were recorded in patients classified by cardiovascular risk according to guidelines from Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé. Recruitment took place between September 2008 and February 2009, and involved patients aged >45 years who had been on statin therapy for > or =3 months. Overall, 39.6% of the 4335 statin-treated patients had lipid values within desirable levels. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was not at goal more often (51.8%) in higher risk patients than in all patients averaged (37.2%). Also, high-risk patients with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol not at goal had additional lipid abnormalities (low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and/or high triglycerides) more frequently (25.6%) than all patients averaged (18.4%). We conclude that a significant proportion of dyslipidaemic patients at high cardiovascular risk in France are not achieving treatment goals after statin treatment. A significant proportion of these patients might benefit from alternative therapies targeted at improving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels. More attention to the management of these patients is needed to use public health resources more effectively.