Introduction:

Among the main causes of death in Colombia, Latin America, and the general population are pathologies of cardiovascular origin, which have an important relationship with dyslipidemias.

Objective:

The objective of the study was to establish the prevalence of the use of lipid-lowering drugs in a Colombian population during 2016.

Material and methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a population database of the Colombian Health System between January and June 2016. Site: outpatients of Colombia. Participants. Researchers considered all patients who had received this class of drug to establish the prevalence of the use of lipid-lowering drugs. Main measurements. Prevalence of use of lipid-lowering drugs.

Results:

From a population of 4,328,688 patients, a total of 282,002 were prescribed a lipid-lowering drug; the mean age was 64.2 ± 13.3 years and women comprised 50.4% of the users. The estimated prevalence of lipid-lowering drug use was 6.5%. Statins (86.3%) were the most commonly used lipid-lowering drugs (atorvastatin: 81.0%, lovastatina: 14.4%) followed by fibrates (13.1%) and ezetimibe (0.6%).

Conclusions:

A low proportion of people are being treated with lipid-lowering drugs, according to the estimated prevalence of dyslipidemia.

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