Characteristics of patients in the study cohort
| Variable | All patients (n=37 120) | LDL-C ≤1.8 mmol/L (n=6747) | LDL-C >1.8 mmol/L (n=30 373) |
| Age | 73.0 (10.1) | 73.2 (9.9) | 73.0 (10.1) |
| Sex (female) | 13 585 (36.6%) | 1897 (28.1%) | 11 688 (38.5%) |
| Smoking* | 4221 (12.7%) | 755 (12.3%) | 3466 (12.7%) |
| SBP (mm Hg) | 132.8 (16.1) | 130.6 (15.6) | 133.3 (16.2) |
| DBP (mm Hg) | 75.3 (10.7) | 73.9 (10.7) | 75.6 (10.7) |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L)* | 4.5 (1.2) | 3.4 (0.7) | 4.8 (1.1) |
| LDL-C (mmol/L) | 2.7 (1.0) | 1.5 (0.3) | 3.0 (0.9) |
| Triglyceride (mmol/L)* | 1.6 (0.9) | 1.5 (1.0) | 1.6 (0.9) |
| Hypertension | 30 869 (83.2%) | 5649 (83.7%) | 25 220 (83.0%) |
| Diabetes | 12 544 (33.8%) | 3116 (46.2%) | 9428 (31.0%) |
| CHD | 37 120 (100.0%) | 6747 (100.0%) | 30 373 (100.0%) |
| AMI | 16 742 (45.1%) | 3740 (55.4%) | 13 002 (42.8%) |
| AMI past year | 1544 (4.2%) | 441 (6.5%) | 1103 (3.6%) |
| Stroke | 4452 (12.0%) | 921 (13.7%) | 3531 (11.6%) |
| Stroke past year | 1292 (3.5%) | 266 (3.9%) | 1026 (3.4%) |
| CVD | 19 183 (51.7%) | 4177 (61.9%) | 15 006 (49.4%) |
| Heart failure | 8888 (23.9%) | 1951 (28.9%) | 6937 (22.8%) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 8257 (22.2%) | 1807 (26.8%) | 6450 (21.2%) |
| Dementia | 1363 (3.7%) | 224 (3.3%) | 1139 (3.8%) |
| ASA | 23 431 (63.1%) | 4426 (65.6%) | 19 005 (62.6%) |
| Statin | 25 160 (67.8%) | 5735 (85.0%) | 19 425 (64.0%) |
| Simvastatin | 12 820 (34.5%) | 2810 (41.6%) | 10 010 (33.0%) |
| Pravastatin | 286 (0.8%) | 20 (0.3%) | 266 (0.9%) |
| Atorvastatin | 11 424 (30.8%) | 2723 (40.4%) | 8701 (28.6%) |
| Rosuvastatin | 998 (2.7%) | 235 (3.5%) | 763 (2.5%) |
| Other lipid-lowering drugs | 1231 (3.3%) | 227 (3.4%) | 1004 (3.3%) |
| Ezetimib | 953 (2.6%) | 175 (2.6%) | 778 (2.6%) |
Mean (SD) and frequencies (%).
*Missing data: smoking 3753, SBP 616, DBP 625, Total cholesterol 1510, Triglyceride 5366. For other variables there is no missing data.
AMI, acute myocardial infarction; ASA, acetylic salicylic acid; CHD, coronary heart disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SBP, systolic blood pressure.