Factors Associated With Achievement of Blood Pressure, Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C), and Glycemic Targets for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases Among High Cardiovascular Risk Malaysians in Primary Care

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the world's leading cause of death. About half of Malaysian adults have at least 2 risk factors; thus, rigorous primary preventions are crucial to prevent the first cardiovascular (CV) event. This study aimed to determine the achievement of treatment targets and factors associated with it among high CV risk individuals.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 390 participants from a primary care clinic in Selangor, Malaysia, between February and June 2022. The inclusion criteria were high-CV risk individuals, that is, Framingham risk score >20%, diabetes without target organ damage, stage 3 kidney disease, and very high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) >4.9 mmol/L or blood pressure (BP) >180/110 mmHg. Individuals with existing CVD were excluded. The treatment targets were BP <140/90 mmHg (≤135/75 for diabetics), LDL-C <2.6 mmol/L, and HbA1c ≤6.5%. Multiple logistic regressions determined the association between sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, health literacy, and medication adherence with the achievements of each target.

RESULTS: About 7.2% achieved all treatment targets. Of these, 35.1% reached systolic and diastolic (46.7%) BP targets. About 60.2% and 28.2% achieved optimal LDL-C and HbA1c, respectively. Working participants had lower odds of having optimal systolic (aOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.13-0.90) and diastolic (aOR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.17-0.96) BP. Those who adhered to treatments were more likely to achieve LDL-C and HbA1c targets; (aOR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.10-2.69) and (aOR = 2.46, 95% CI: 1.25-4.83), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The control of risk factors among high CV risk patients in this study was suboptimal. Urgent measures such as improving medication adherence are warranted.