Attainment of multifactorial treatment targets among the elderly in a lipid clinic

Objective To examine target attainment of lipid-lowering, antihypertensive and antidiabetic treatment in the elderly in a specialist setting of a University Hospital in Greece. Methods This was a retrospective study including consecutive subjects ≥ 65 years old (n = 465) with a follow-up ≥ 3 years. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), blood pressure (BP) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) goal achievement were recorded according to European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society (ESC/EAS), European Society of Hypertension (ESH)/ESC and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) guidelines. Results The LDL-C targets were attained by 27%, 48% and 62% of very high, high and moderate risk patients, respectively. Those receiving statin + ezetimibe achieved higher rates of LDL-C goal achievement compared with those receiving statin monotherapy (48% vs. 33%, P Conclusions Even in a specialist setting of a University Hospital, a high proportion of the elderly remain at suboptimal LDL-C, BP and HbA1c levels. The use of drug combinations could improve multifactorial treatment target attainment, while less strict targets could be more easily achieved in this population.