Low HDL-C: Prevalent and moderately affected by simvastatin
Low HDL-C was prevalent in nearly half of high-risk* simvastatin monotherapy patients not at LDL-C goal
A large-scale national EMR database of high-risk simvastatin monotherapy patients with dyslipidemia (n=116,795)1
Data Analysis: A retrospective, observational, cross-sectional analysis conducted using
electronic medical records (EMR) data provided by GE Healthcare's Medical Quality Improvement Consortium
database of patient records (age ≥18 years) collected from January 2003 to September 2010. As of September
2010, this database captured approximately 700,000 dyslipidemia patients (defined as those who were prescribed
cholesterol medication and had all 3 lipid values recorded: LDL-C, HDL-C, and TG.) Of those, 37,486 were high-risk
patients on simvastatin monotherapy (treated for ≥90 days) not at LDL-C goal of <100 mg/dL. Optimal HDL-C levels
were ≥40 mg/dL if male and ≥50 mg/dL if female.
Limitations: sociodemographic, cultural, and other factors beyond the scope of this study; use of
lipid data from a single visit; EMR data captured prescribed therapy, not necessarily what was dispensed.
*CHD or CHD-risk equivalent.
Simvastatin monotherapy significantly affected LDL-C, and moderately affected HDL-C
Simvastatin 40 mg lipid results in the Upper Dose Comparative Study at Weeks 18
and 24 (n=433)1,a
Study Design: Pooled data from two 6-month, multicenter, double-blind,
randomized, and active-controlled studies to evaluate efficacy and safety of simvastatin
80 mg (n=664) compared with simvastatin 40 mg (n=433).
Simvastatin 80 mg results (n=664): HDL-C, 8%; LDL-C,*-47%.
aMean % change averaged.
bn=432.
*n=663.