Sustained LDL-C Control in High-Risk Group via Remote Lipid Program: Daily Dose

Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

Last week, we reported on findings from a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 73rd Annual Scientific Session, held April 6-8, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia that examined the success of a remotely delivered lipid program in achieving target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels.

The study

Researchers enrolled 8294 individuals in the remote lipid management program that ran from 2018 to 2022. Of the full cohort, 2656 had known ASCVD, 2887 had LDL-C >190mg/dL, 1388 had type 2 diabetes (T2D), and 1363 had a 10-year ASCVD risk of ≥7.5%. The majority (7079) were enrolled in medication management while 1215 opted to receive education only. Target LDL-C levels were established for 6 months and 12 months across 4 ASCVD risk groups (ASCVD, hyperlipidemia, T2D, and primary prevention) and were based on the 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Cholesterol Guideline (LDL-C target for ASCVD <70 mg/dL and <100 mg/dL for other groups).

The findings

Of the patients fully completing the program, 75.7% achieved target LDL-C levels at 6 months and 83.1% achieved target levels at 12 months, with similar effects among 4 risk groups (P < .001 for all). Participants who discontinued the program, but remained under usual care, had the lowest rates of achieving target LDL-C levels.

Authors' comment

"The attenuated effect on LDL-C in patients who prematurely discontinued the program highlights the need to improve patient engagement to maximize treatment plans."

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