Abstract P103: Effect of Agents Specific to Triglyceride Lowering, Statins Alone, or a Combination of Both Among Patients with Diabetes and Very High Triglycerides

Background: Severe hypertriglyceridemia is an often-neglected risk factor that is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, pancreatitis and mortality, especially when other comorbidities are present. We investigated the association between triglyceride (TG)-lowering therapy and subsequent reduction in TG levels in patients with diabetes and very high triglycerides (VHTG). Methods: We combined data from the Southern California and Northwest regions of Kaiser Permanente to identify patients with diabetes and a TG measurement >500 mg/dL with a follow-up measure 6-15 months later. Patients were stratified by whether they received no treatment, pharmacotherapy specific to TG lowering (fibrates, niacin, omega-3 products) only, a statin only or a combination of both between the two TG measures. We compared the characteristics of the four groups of patients and constructed a multivariable logistic regression model to determine the probability of achieving TG Results: Of the 3,188 diabetic patients with VHTG, 23% received no therapy, 8% received a TG-specific drug only (72% fibrates, 27% niacin, 1% omega-3), 55% received a statin only, and 14% received both. Compared with no treatment, those receiving a TG-specific agent were not significantly more likely to attain TG Conclusion: Our results suggest that pharmacotherapy is essential for the attainment of TG levels