Effect of 2013 ACC/AHA Blood Cholesterol Guidelines on Statin Treatment Patterns and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Patients [Health Services and Outcomes Research]

We examined statin use and LDL‐C levels before and after the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines in patients with clinical ASCVD as defined in the guidelines.Methods and ResultsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult commercial and Medicare Advantage health plan enrollees in the Optum Research Database. Patients had ≥1 claim with a diagnosis of clinical ASCVD between November 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014 and were continuously enrolled 6 months before (baseline) and 7 months after (follow‐up) the first ASCVD visit. Patients were assigned to monthly cohorts based on ASCVD event month. Statin use and intensity were measured at baseline and first month of follow‐up. LDL‐C changes were assessed using ordinary least squares regression. For 90 287 patients, mean (SD) age was 68 (12) years; 50% were female; and 30% had commercial insurance. Statin use remained consistent before and after guidelines (32% and 31%, respectively). Of patients receiving statins, high‐intensity use increased by 4 percentage points 1 year after guidelines (P

Source: JAHA:Journal of the American Heart Association - March 17, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Okerson, T., Patel, J., DiMario, S., Burton, T., Seare, J., Harrison, D. J. Tags: Lipids and Cholesterol, Cardiovascular Disease Original Research Source Type: research