BACKGROUND: Using the combined 1999–2000, 2001–2002, and 2003–2004 (99–04) National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), we generated current estimates of the prevalence and overlap of cardiovascular comorbidities among dyslipidemic US adults aged 65 years or older, stratified by lipid-lowering medication.
METHODS: We analyzed 1331 NHANES 99–04 respondents aged 65 years or older with complete data for a number of clinical and selfreported parameters. Respondent-specific, self-reported and laboratory data were used to assess the prevalence and overlap of dyslipidemia, congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary heart disease (CHD), history of stroke, and diabetes, all stratified by use/non-use of lipid-lowering medication. NHANES sampling weights scaled to the US Census’ 2007 projected US population aged 65 years or older were used to generate nationally representative estimates.
RESULTS: Using the 99–04 NHANES, we estimated that among the 32.6 million (M) US adults aged 65 years or older, 22.7 M (69.4%) have dyslipidemia, of which only 8.5 M (37.4%) are receiving lipid-lowering therapy. The prevalence of CHF, CHD, history of stroke, and diabetes in both treated and untreated dyslipidemic patients, are shown in the table below.
CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half (47.0%) of elderly US citizens with dyslipidemia have more than one of the cardiovascular conditions studied. Among those who are on a lipid-lowering medication, 52.2% report having comorbidities that put them at high risk for new or recurring cardiovascular events. Even more noteworthy is that a high proportion (43.8%) of dyslipidemic patients aged 65 years or older with significant co-morbidities are not receiving lipid-lowering therapy, which highlights a critical unmet medical need for this growing population.
