TY - JOUR
T1 - Treatment of hypercholesterolaemia in older adults calls for a patient-centred approach
AU - Kleipool, Emma Ef
AU - Dorresteijn, Johannes An
AU - Smulders, Yvo M
AU - Visseren, Frank Lj
AU - Peters, Mike Jl
AU - Muller, Majon
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2020/1/27
Y1 - 2020/1/27
N2 - Due to an increasing number of older adults with (risk factors for) cardiovascular disease (CVD), the sum of older adults eligible for lipid-lowering drugs will increase. This has risen questions about benefits and harms of lipid-lowering therapy in older adults with a varying number of (cardiovascular) comorbidities and functional status. The heterogeneity in physical and functional health increases with age, leading to a much wider variety in cardiovascular risk and life expectancy than in younger adults. We suggest treatment decisions on hypercholesterolaemia in adults aged ≥75 years should shift from a strictly 10-year cardiovascular risk-driven approach to a patient-centred and lifetime benefit-based approach. With this, estimated 10-year risk of CVD should be placed into the perspective of life expectancy. Moreover, frailty and safety concerns must be taken into account for a risk-benefit discussion between clinician and patient. Based on the Dutch addendum 'Cardiovascular Risk Management in (frail) older adults', our approach offers more detailed information on when not to initiate or deprescribe therapy than standard guidelines. Instead of using traditional risk estimating tools which tend to overestimate risk of CVD in older adults, use a competing risk adjusted, older adults-specific risk score (available at https://u-prevent.com). By filling in a patient's (cardiovascular) health profile (eg, cholesterol, renal function), the tool estimates risk of CVD and models the effect of medication in terms of absolute risk reduction for an individual patient. Using this tool can guide doctors and patients in making shared decisions on initiating, continuing or deprescribing lipid-lowering therapy.
AB - Due to an increasing number of older adults with (risk factors for) cardiovascular disease (CVD), the sum of older adults eligible for lipid-lowering drugs will increase. This has risen questions about benefits and harms of lipid-lowering therapy in older adults with a varying number of (cardiovascular) comorbidities and functional status. The heterogeneity in physical and functional health increases with age, leading to a much wider variety in cardiovascular risk and life expectancy than in younger adults. We suggest treatment decisions on hypercholesterolaemia in adults aged ≥75 years should shift from a strictly 10-year cardiovascular risk-driven approach to a patient-centred and lifetime benefit-based approach. With this, estimated 10-year risk of CVD should be placed into the perspective of life expectancy. Moreover, frailty and safety concerns must be taken into account for a risk-benefit discussion between clinician and patient. Based on the Dutch addendum 'Cardiovascular Risk Management in (frail) older adults', our approach offers more detailed information on when not to initiate or deprescribe therapy than standard guidelines. Instead of using traditional risk estimating tools which tend to overestimate risk of CVD in older adults, use a competing risk adjusted, older adults-specific risk score (available at https://u-prevent.com). By filling in a patient's (cardiovascular) health profile (eg, cholesterol, renal function), the tool estimates risk of CVD and models the effect of medication in terms of absolute risk reduction for an individual patient. Using this tool can guide doctors and patients in making shared decisions on initiating, continuing or deprescribing lipid-lowering therapy.
KW - cardiovascular disease
KW - frailty
KW - lipid-lowering drugs
KW - older adults
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075828652&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2019-315600
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2019-315600
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31780523
SN - 1355-6037
VL - 106
SP - 261
EP - 266
JO - Heart
JF - Heart
ER -