Prevalence and predictors of lipid abnormalities in patients treated with statins in the UK general practice

Objective: To identify the prevalence and predictors of lipid abnormalities in statin-treated patients in the UK. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using g the UK General Practice Research Database. Patients >= 35 years of age were included if they received first-ever statin between January 2000 and December 2004, received statins for at least 6 weeks. had >2 years of pre- and I year of post-statin initiation database history. received no concomitant lipid lowering drugs and had at least one complete lipid profile conducted within 1 year before and after initiating statins. Predictors of each lipid abnormality were determined using random effects logistic regression. Results: Within 1 year of statin initiation. 34.7%, 27.4%, 68.2% and 57.6% of patients did not reach optimal levels of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TG. respectively. Failure to attain TC goal was explained by smoking (odds ratio = 1.13. 95% confidence interval [1.02-1.23]) and baseline TC >6.2 mmol/L (5.01 [4.58-5.48]). Failure to attain LDL-C goal was associated with smoking (1.28, [1.14-1.43]). LDL-C >= 4.1 to <4.9 mmol/L (2.72, [2.45-3.03]) and LDL-C >= 4.9 mmol/L (8.54, [7.62-9.54]). High CHD) risk was associated with low HDL-C in women at follow-up (1.94, [1.51-2.48]). Elevated TG was associated with baseline TG >= 2.2 to <5.6 mmol/L (4.19, [3.81-4.59]), TG >= 5.6 mmol/L (16.10. [3.67-70.57]). smoking, (1.26. [1.11-1.42]) and hypertension (1.12, [1.01-1.23]). Conclusion: While TC and LDL-C management appear appropriate in the UK. attainment of recommended levels of HDL-C and TG remains poor. The latter remains a concern, as pool-attainment of recommended levels of HDL-C and TG is associated with high CHD risk in women, smoking, and hypertension. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.