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. 2022 Dec 27:51:22-27.
doi: 10.1016/j.athplu.2022.12.003. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Dyslipidemia and the preventive potential in the Greenlandic population

Johan Skov Bundgaard  1   2 , Marit E Jørgensen  3   4   5 , Kristine Andersen  5 , Henning Bundgaard  2 , Uka Wilhjelm Geisler  6 , Michael Lynge Pedersen  1   5
Affiliations

Dyslipidemia and the preventive potential in the Greenlandic population

Johan Skov Bundgaard et al. Atheroscler Plus. .

Abstract

Background: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a well-established risk factor for development of cardiovascular diseases. Based on available clinical data, we aimed to investigate the plasma lipid profile in the Greenlandic population, the proportion on cholesterol-lowering treatment and the adherence to local indications for cholesterol-lowering therapy.

Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study of the adult (≥21 years) Greenlandic population with focus on clinically determined lipid levels from 2017 to early 2022. We investigated levels of dyslipidemia and assessed cholesterol-lowering medication usage in individuals with an indication according to current Greenlandic guidelines, which include a) LDL-C >5 mmol/l, b) diabetes, c) diagnosed atherosclerotic disease and 4) a SCORE2 >7.5%.

Results: In the adult Greenlandic population of 40,565 individuals a lipid profile was available in 13,895 with a mean LDL-C of 3.0 mmol/L and 976 (7%) had a LDL-C >5 mmol/l. One or more indications for cholesterol-lowering medication was present in 3988 individuals and a total of 5464 adult Greenlanders either fulfilled local criteria for statin therapy or received a statin (some without current indication) and among these, 2232 (41%) individuals received no statin.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that clinically significant dyslipidemia is common in the adult Greenlandic population and that the cardiovascular preventive potential of cholesterol-lowering therapy is currently underutilized.

Keywords: Arctic health; Cholesterol; Epidemiology; Plasma lipid; Statins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Henning Bundgaard reports receiving lecture fees from MSD, BMS, Amgen and Sanofi. Marit E Jørgensen reports receiving research grants from AMGEN, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, 10.13039/501100004191Novo Nordisk and Sanofi Aventis and holds shares in 10.13039/501100004191Novo Nordisk A/S. The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the study population.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of lipid profiles in Greenland.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Greenlanders receiving cholesterol medication according to indication Noticeably, the true number of individuals with an indication for cholesterol-lowering medication due to the diabetes indication may be higher caused by missing data for the LDL-C supplement criteria. Furthermore, a large proportion of individuals were excluded for SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP as Greenlandic guidelines only include individuals <75 years. 1: Percentage of individuals receiving a statin by number of individuals fulfilling indication 2: Number of individuals receiving a statin 3: Number of individuals with an indication for a statin 4: Number of individuals with complete data for the given indication where especially SCORE requires gender, smoking status, blood pressure, age and cholesterol-level. A sign of (−) indicates that a figure for individuals with data was not obtainable (as those e.g. without a diagnosis cannot be classified as missing data).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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