Relationship between continuity of care and clinical outcomes in patients with dyslipidemia in Korea: a real world claims database study

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 3062 - 11
• Main Authors: Lee, Juhee, Choi, Eunyoung, Choo, Eunjung, Linda, Siachalinga, Jang, Eun Jin, Lee, Iyn-Hyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.02.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/699/75/2099; 692/700; 692/700/1538; 692/700/228; Adult; Arteriosclerosis; Atherosclerosis - epidemiology; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Clinical outcomes; Continuity of care; Continuity of Patient Care - organization & administration; Continuity of Patient Care - statistics & numerical data; Databases, Factual; Dyslipidemia; Dyslipidemias - therapy; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Incidence; Insurance Claim Review; Male; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; National Health Programs; Office Visits - statistics & numerical data; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Patients; Proportional Hazards Models; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Treatment Outcome; Republic of Korea
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06973-3

Dyslipidemia is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and requires proactive management. This study aimed to investigate the association between care continuity and the outcomes of patients with dyslipidemia. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on patients with dyslipidemia by employing the Korea National Health Insurance claims database during the period 2007–2018. The Continuity of Care Index (COCI) was used to measure continuity of care. We considered incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as a primary outcome. A Cox's proportional hazards regression model was used to quantify risks of primary outcome. There were 236,486 patients newly diagnosed with dyslipidemia in 2008 who were categorized into the high and low COC groups depending on their COCI. The adjusted hazard ratio for the primary outcome was 1.09 times higher (95% confidence interval: 1.06–1.12) in the low COC group than in the high COC group. The study shows that improved continuity of care for newly-diagnosed dyslipidemic patients might reduce the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.