Association of medical visit frequency with cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with dyslipidaemia: a cohort study using a Japanese claims database
TL;DR
Extending visit intervals may be a reasonable option for selected stable patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention, as less frequent visits were not associated with increased risks of cardiovascular events or mortality.
Abstract
Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; however, the optimal frequency of medical visits remains unclear. To examine whether medical visit frequency is associated with the incidence of cardiac events, cerebrovascular events, and mortality among patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Shizuoka Kokuho Database between April 1, 2012, and September 30, 2021. Patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy were classified into high-frequency (≥ 22 visits in 2 years) and low-frequency (8–12 visits in 2 years) groups. After 1:3 propensity score matching and exclusion of patients with events within 2 years, 1,435 patients in the low-frequency group and 4,412 in the high-frequency group were analysed. Over a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, composite outcomes occurred in 5.6% of both groups (hazard ratio [HR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84–1.38; p = 0.571). No significant differences were observed for cardiac events (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.83–1.54), cerebrovascular events (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.67–1.90), or mortality (HR 0.94; 95% CI 0.60–1.48). Less frequent visits were not associated with increased risks of cardiovascular events or mortality. Extending visit intervals may therefore be a reasonable option for selected stable patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention.