Retrospective Observational Electronic Medical Records-based Real World Study to Assess the Prevalence and Treatment...

Dyslipidemia is an imbalance of lipids-total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TG), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The aim of this observational electronic medical records (EMR)-based study was to evaluate the prevalence, comorbidities, and treatment pattern in dyslipidemia patients.

This was a retrospective, EMR-based longitudinal study that used anonymized data. Data were analyzed for dyslipidemia patients of either gender, age ≥18 years, prescribed lipid-lowering agents. Follow-up data were captured at 3 months (±30 days) from the baseline visit. There were records of 77,57,513 adult patients in the EMR database from January 2018 to 2023. Of these, 15,20,319 (19.6%) patients were diagnosed with dyslipidemia, of which 90,933 (5.98%) were treatment-naïve patients, that is, newly diagnosed, and 65,535 (72.07%) patients had follow-up within 3 months (±1 month).

The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 19.6% with a greater number of males. Diabetes and hypertension (HTN) were the top comorbidities. HDL was in the normal range (44.8 ± 9.7 mg/dL), LDL and TC were borderline high (140.5 ± 38.8 and 222.8 ± 42.8 mg/dL), TG were high (203.8 ± 94.7 mg/dL), and VLDL was close to the normal range (29.2 ± 8.5 mg/dL) at baseline. About >50% of dyslipidemia patients with diabetes, HTN, or diabetes and HTN with LDL >100 mg/dL at baseline achieved LDL <100 mg/dL at follow-up. In dyslipidemia patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), 47.54% of patients had LDL >100 mg/dL at follow-up, and only 4.92% of patients had LDL <55 mg/dL at follow-up. A number of 66.7% of dyslipidemia patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) had LDL <100 mg/dL at follow-up. Low- to moderate-dose rosuvastatin and atorvastatin were the mostly prescribed drugs.

Statins significantly reduced LDL, TC, and TG in patients with CAD and LDL in patients with CKD. Despite being on lipid-lowering drugs, probably due to low doses, a significant proportion of patients did not achieve the recommended LDL levels.