J Lipid Atheroscler.  2021 May;10(2):202-209. 10.12997/jla.2021.10.2.202.

Dyslipidemia Fact Sheets in Korea 2020: an Analysis of Nationwide Population-based Data

• Cho SMJ
• Lee H
• Lee HH
• Baek J
• Heo JE
• Joo HJ
• Hong SJ
• Kim HC
• on behalf of the Korean Society of Lipidology and Atherosclerosis (KSoLA) Public Relations Committee

• KMID: 2516881
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12997/jla.2021.10.2.202

Abstract

Objective
The Korean Society of Lipid and Atherosclerosis (KSoLA) has published the Dyslipidemia Fact Sheets in Korea 2020 to provide an overview of magnitude and management status of dyslipidemia and their recent trends therein.
Methods
The Fact Sheets were based on the analyses of Korean adults aged 20 years or older of the 2007–2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the 2002–2018 National Health Insurance Big Data (NHI-BD).
Results
Between 2007 and 2018, the crude prevalence of hypercholesterolemia increased from 9.0% to 20.7%. During the same period, its management rate also improved yet remained unsatisfactory. In 2018, the prevalence of dyslipidemia was 45.6% in men and 31.3% in women, which increased with older age and presence of metabolic abnormalities. Indeed, the number of people diagnosed with dyslipidemia has increased nearly 8-fold from 1.5 million in 2002 to 11.6 million in 2018; alongside, the number of people receiving pharmacological treatment for dyslipidemia has also risen. Of the 7.7 million people treated for dyslipidemia in 2018, statin accounted for the majority (91.8%) of lipid-lowering drug prescriptions, followed by ezetimibe (14.6%), fibrate (8.5%), and omega-3 acid (5.9%). The most frequently used combination therapy was statin plus ezetimibe, accounting for 72% of dual therapy prescriptions.
Conclusion
Dyslipidemia continues to impose a substantial disease burden in Korea. Both healthcare practitioners and patients need to actively adopt guideline-recommended lifestyle modification and pharmacological treatment for comprehensive, timely, and sustained management.

Keyword

Dyslipidemias; Hypercholesterolemia; Lipids; Korea