Achievement of national cholesterol education program goals by patients with dyslipidemia in rural ambulatory care settings.

The Third Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program provides guidelines for managing dyslipidemia; however, studies from large centers find that most dyslipidemic patients fail to achieve management goals. Few data exist on lipid management in rural settings. To determine the proportion of rural dyslipidemic patients achieving ATP III goals, records of 461 patients were reviewed from 4 practices. Only 54% of the patients with dyslipidemia achieved ATP III goals. Patients with diabetes or with a family history of premature coronary heart disease were less likely to achieve ATP III goals (odds ratio 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.38-0.84 and odds ratio 0.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.25-0.71, respectively). Patients taking statins were more likely to achieve goals (odds ratio 3.23; 95% confidence interval, 2.13-4.89). These results indicate that a significant proportion of patients with dyslipidemia in rural practices do not achieve management goals. Strategies to improve lipid management in rural practices are needed.