Objective: To describe the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and associated risk factors of a population of patients with dyslipidemia seen ten years earlier for a cardiovascular risk assessment in the endocrinology department of a French hospital.
Methods: Patients seen for a cardiovascular risk assessment between 1988 and 1992 were re-examined in the department, or contacted by mail or their vital status (and cause of death, if any) was obtained from the INSERM Cepi-Dc database.
Results: Vital status was available for 89.7% of the patients. The standard risk factors associated with cardiovascular mortality were found in the patients who died of these causes, that is, age, sex, smoking, diabetes, total cholesterol, and previous vascular status. After adjustment for risk factors, myocardial infarction was significantly associated with age, sex and total cholesterol in patients who received primary prevention care.
Conclusion: This study showed the feasibility of tracing a cohort of dyslipidemic patients with cardiovascular risk factors seen in an endocrinology department. It enabled a pragmatic assessment of a specific at-risk French population and a description of the compliant and noncompliant patients.