The authors analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the outpatient department component of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, surveys that have been validated against other data sources, and used in past research on cholesterol management. They also showed inequities in use of statins for patients with different social and clinical characteristics, with lower usage in younger patients, females, African-Americans, and patients cared for by doctors who are not cardiologists.
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries, and identifying and treating patients with high cholesterol has an essential role in the prevention of CHD. Therapeutic lifestyle changes are important for general reduction of risk overall, but patients who are more likely to develop CHD, or who have high cholesterol, should be treated with statins. The authors conclude that education should be aimed at improving the practice of physicians, above all those who are not heart specialists, so that they adhere to evidence-based medicine and published guidelines for cardiovascular risk reduction.
Citation: Ma J, Sehgal NL, Ayanian JZ, Stafford RS (2005) National trends in statin use by coronary heart disease risk category. PLoS Med 2(5): e123.
CONTACT:
Jun Ma
Program on Prevention Outcomes and Practices
Stanford Prevention Research Center
School of Medicine
Hoover Pavilion, Room N229
211 Quarry Drive
Stanford, CA USA 94305-5705
+1-650-498-5806
+1-650-725-6906 (fax)
jun.ma@stanford.edu
PLEASE MENTION PLoS Medicine (www.plosmedicine.org) AS THE SOURCE FOR THESE ARTICLES. THANK YOU.
All works published in PLoS Medicine are open access. Everything is immediately available without cost to anyone, anywhere--to read, download, redistribute, include in databases, and otherwise use--subject only to the condition that the original authorship is properly attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors. The Public Library of Science uses the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Journal
PLoS Medicine