Patient Knowledge of Coronary Risk Profile Improves the Effectiveness of Dyslipidemia Therapy

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Although increasing evidence indicates that treating dyslipidemia can reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes,1-6 expert guidelines for treating dyslipidemia recognize that primary prevention will be most effective and cost-effective if high-risk individuals are targeted for therapy.7-9 Accordingly, as recently discussed by Jackson et al,9 one of the challenges facing health professionals is to identify such patients while reassuring those who are at low risk. Many treated patients do not achieve recommended lipid targets.10-13 This is due, in part, to inadequate treatment by physicians and suboptimal patient adherence to prescribed therapy.14-19 Therefore, once therapy is targeted to those at high risk, a second challenge is to maximize patient adherence to lifestyle modifications and medical treatment.