The American Diabetes Association has established lipid goals for patients with diabetes.
Although diabetic populations historically have poor low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
cholesterol goal adherence, little is known about adherence to triglyceride and high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol goals. To determine the degree of lipid goal attainment
among patients with diabetes, and to characterize the patterns of lipid medication
use, we evaluated the baseline data from 1,742 enrollees of the national Veterans
Affairs Diabetes Trial. Using current American Diabetes Association lipid guidelines,
we calculated the proportion of participants achieving a LDL cholesterol level <100
mg/dl, triglyceride level <150 mg/dl, and HDL cholesterol level >40 mg/dl in men (>50
mg/dl in women). We also performed a descriptive analysis of the use of lipid medications
in this population. The baseline LDL cholesterol level was 111 ± 63 mg/dl, triglyceride
level was 213 ± 277 mg/dl, and HDL cholesterol was 36 ± 10 mg/dl. At enrollment, 44%
of veterans met the LDL cholesterol goal, 58% met the triglyceride goal, and 16% met
the HDL cholesterol goal, but only 6% met all 3 goals. Of the 1,742 enrollees, 2/3
were receiving lipid therapy, with statins (58%) the most commonly used drug. Combination
lipid therapy was used by 11% of enrollees. Although the enrollees of the Veterans
Affairs Diabetes Trial demonstrated better adherence to the American Diabetes Association’s
LDL cholesterol goal than other diabetic populations recently studied, more aggressive
and directed lipid medication use is needed to treat the overall lipid profile better.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 05, 2006
Accepted:
January 16,
2006
Received in revised form:
January 16,
2006
Received:
December 3,
2005
Footnotes
This study was supported by the Cooperative Studies Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC; and the Southern California Institute of Research and Education (SCIRE), Long Beach, California.
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
