Table 1.
Patient characteristics categorized by LDLc target groups
| Total population | LDLc < 1.8 | LDLc 1.8–2.5 | LDLc > 2.5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients (% of total population) | 428 | 184 (43) | 150 (35) | 94 (22) | P-value |
| Age, years | 63 ± 9 | 64 ± 9 | 62 ± 9 | 62 ± 10 | 0.10 |
| Male, n (%) | 248 (58) | 117 (64) | 79 (55) | 52 (52) | 0.11 |
| Duration of diabetes, years | 11 [7–18] | 13 [8–20] | 11 [6–18] | 10 [5–14] | 0.006 |
| Serum HbA1c, mmol/mol | 57 ± 12 | 58 ± 11 | 56 ± 12 | 58 ± 13 | 0.12 |
| Serum HbA1c, % | 7.4 ± 3.2 | 7.5 ± 3.2 | 7.3 ± 3.2 | 7.5 ± 3.3 | 0.12 |
| Insulin use, n (%) | 271 (63) | 129 (70) | 88 (62) | 54 (54) | 0.02 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 136 ± 16 | 136 ± 17 | 137 ± 16 | 136 ± 17 | 0.70 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg | 74 ± 10 | 73 ± 10 | 75 ± 9 | 75 ± 10 | 0.17 |
| Heart frequency, beats/min | 74 ± 13 | 73 ± 13 | 75 ± 12 | 74 ± 12 | 0.52 |
| Antihypertensive treatment, n (%) | 347 (81) | 159 (86) | 113 (79) | 75 (74) | 0.32 |
| Total number of drugs | 7 ± 3 | 7 ± 3 | 7 ± 3 | 6 ± 3 | 0.02 |
| Microvascular disease, n (%) | 280 (65) | 135 (74) | 85 (60) | 60 (61) | 0.008 |
| Diabetic nephropathy, n (%) | 178 (42) | 90 (49) | 50 (35) | 38 (38) | 0.02 |
| Retinopathy, n (%) | 103 (24) | 59 (32) | 32 (23) | 12 (12) | 0.001 |
| Neuropathy, n (%) | 155 (36) | 70 (38) | 42 (29) | 43 (43) | 0.03 |
| Macrovascular disease, n (%) | 149 (35) | 78 (42) | 38 (27) | 33 (33) | 0.007 |
| Coronary heart disease, n (%) | 93 (22) | 49 (27) | 22 (15) | 22 (22) | 0.04 |
| Cerebrovascular disease, n (%) | 46 (22) | 25 (14) | 13 (9) | 8 (8) | 0.26 |
| Peripheral artery disease, n (%) | 42 (10) | 26 (14) | 4 (3) | 12 (12) | 0.003 |
| Total cholesterol, mmol/l | 4.0 ± 0.9 | 3.3 ± 0.5 | 4.1 ± 0.4 | 5.0 ± 0.7 | < 0.001 |
| LDL-cholesterol, mmol/l | 2.0 ± 0.8 | 1.4 ± 0.3 | 2.1 ± 0.2 | 3.1 ± 0.5 | < 0.001 |
| HDL-cholesterol, mmol/l | 1.1 ± 0.3 | 1.1 ± 0.3 | 1.2 ± 0.4 | 1.1 ± 0.3 | 0.04 |
| Total cholesterol/HDL ratio, mmol/l | 3.8 ± 1.4 | 3.2 ± 1.0 | 3.7 ± 1.1 | 4.9 ± 1.7 | < 0.001 |
| Triglycerides, mmol/l | 1.8 ± 0.9 | 1.9 ± 1.0 | 1.8 ± 0.8 | 1.9 ± 0.8 | 0.04 |
| C-reactive protein, mg/l | 2 [1–5] | 2 [1–5] | 2 [1–5] | 3 [1–6] | 0.13 |
| Pharmacological lipid-lowering therapy | |||||
| Statin, n (%) | 324 (76) | 169 (92) | 114 (76) | 41 (44) | < 0.001 |
| Ezetimibe, n (%) | 34 (8) | 9 (5) | 10 (7) | 15 (16) | 0.004 |
| Statin + ezetimibe, n (%) | 22 (5) | 8 (4) | 6 (4) | 8 (9) | 0.16 |
| Fibrate, n (%) | 10 (2) | 0 (0) | 4 (3) | 6 (6) | 0.003 |
| Statin + fibrate, n (%) | 4 (1) | 0 (0) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 0.17 |
| Other lipid-lowering therapy, n (%) | 1 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0.40 |
| No lipid-lowering therapy, n (%) | 87 (20) | 14 (8) | 31 (21) | 42 (45) | < 0.001 |
| Glucagon-like peptide-1 analogs, n (%) | 43 (10) | 14 (8) | 20 (13) | 9 (10) | 0.22 |
| Lifestyle and nutritional factors | |||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | 32.0 ± 6.3 | 33.0 ± 6.3 | 33.1 ± 6.0 | 32.4 ± 6.8 | 0.16 |
| BMI ≤ 25 kg/m2, n (%) | 24 (6) | 7 (4) | 8 (5) | 9 (10) | 0.14 |
| Waist circumference, cm | 112 ± 14 | 113 ± 14 | 112 ± 14 | 108 ± 14 | 0.02 |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 72 (17) | 20 (20) | 28 (15) | 24 (17) | 0.57 |
| Adherence guideline physical activity, n (%) | 244 (59) | 97 (56) | 92 (63) | 55 (60) | 0.46 |
| Total caloric intake, kcal/day | 1922 ± 636 | 1922 ± 645 | 1958 ± 628 | 1865 ± 632 | 0.56 |
| Vegetables, g/day | 98 [57–136] | 95 [49–124] | 99 [56–146] | 101 [72–136] | 0.26 |
| Fruits, g/day | 123 [66–227] | 120 [66–218] | 130 [73–226] | 116 [66–232] | 0.68 |
| Legumes, g/day | 12 [0–27] | 17 [4–28] | 11 [0–24] | 11 [0–30] | 0.34 |
| Nuts, g/day | 3 [0–9] | 3 [0–6] | 4 [0–11] | 4 [0–10] | 0.05 |
| Dairy, g/day | 213 [104–357] | 231 [118–343] | 207 [87–394] | 167 [89–289] | 0.10 |
| Fish, g/day | 10 [3–20] | 10 [3–21] | 11 [4–19] | 10 [2–17] | 0.72 |
| Tea, g/day | 71 [0–250] | 71 [0–250] | 71 [0–250] | 125 [9–250] | 0.12 |
| Butter, hard margarines and cooking fats, g/day | 0 [0–7] | 0 [0–7] | 0 [0–7] | 0 [0–5] | 0.73 |
| Red meat, g/day | 91 [66–117] | 92 [69–117] | 93 [69–125] | 85 [58–110] | 0.13 |
| Processed meat, g/day | 48 [30–72] | 49 [30–73] | 50 [33–70] | 44 [26–65] | 0.38 |
| Sweetened beverages and fruit juices, g/day | 27 [0–129] | 21 [0–127] | 27 [0–129] | 29 [0–105] | 0.88 |
| Alcohol, units/month | 5 [0–31] | 3 [0–37] | 8 [0–30] | 4 [0–25] | 0.50 |
| Sodium, g/day | 4.3 ± 1.8 | 4.2 ± 1.7 | 4.4 ± 2.0 | 4.1 ± 1.8 | 0.41 |
BMI body mass index, LDLc low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Differences between the groups are determined using one-way ANOVA (normal distribution), Kruskal–Wallis (skewed distribution), or χ2-test (categorical variables)