Association of medical visit frequency with cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with dyslipidaemia: a cohort study using a Japanese claims database.
8 affiliations
- 1Graduate School of Public Health, Shizuoka Graduate University of Public Health, 4-27-2 Kitaando, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, 420-0881, Japan.
- 2Department of General Medicine, Fujieda Municipal General Hospital, Shizuoka, Japan.
- 3Graduate School of Public Health, Shizuoka Graduate University of Public Health, 4-27-2 Kitaando, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, 420-0881, Japan. [email protected].
- 4Laboratory of Biostatistics, NHO Nagoya Medical Center, 4-1-1 Sannomaru, Naka-ku, Nagoya, 460-0001, Japan. [email protected].
- 5Center for Health Informatics Policy, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama, Japan.
- 6Okinaka Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Tokyo, Japan.
- 7Allied Medical K.K, Tokyo, Japan.
- 8Graduate School of Public Health, Shizuoka Graduate University of Public Health, 4-27-2 Kitaando, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, 420-0881, Japan. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; however, the optimal frequency of medical visits remains unclear.Objective
To examine whether medical visit frequency is associated with the incidence of cardiac events, cerebrovascular events, and mortality among patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy.Methods
We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Shizuoka Kokuho Database between April 1, 2012, and September 30, 2021. Patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy were classified into high-frequency (≥ 22 visits in 2 years) and low-frequency (8-12 visits in 2 years) groups. After 1:3 propensity score matching and exclusion of patients with events within 2 years, 1,435 patients in the low-frequency group and 4,412 in the high-frequency group were analysed.Results
Over a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, composite outcomes occurred in 5.6% of both groups (hazard ratio [HR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-1.38; p = 0.571). No significant differences were observed for cardiac events (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.83-1.54), cerebrovascular events (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.67-1.90), or mortality (HR 0.94; 95% CI 0.60-1.48).Conclusion
Less frequent visits were not associated with increased risks of cardiovascular events or mortality. Extending visit intervals may therefore be a reasonable option for selected stable patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention.
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BibTeX
@article{matsunaga2026association,
title = {{Association of medical visit frequency with cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with dyslipidaemia: a cohort study using a Japanese claims database.}},
author = {Taku Matsunaga and Eiji Nakatani and Yasuto Sato and Hideaki Kaneda and Hiromitsu Ohno and Akira Sugawara},
journal = {Journal of health, population, and nutrition},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s41043-026-01408-5},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958461},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association of medical visit frequency with cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with dyslipidaemia: a cohort study using a Japanese claims database.
AU - Taku Matsunaga
AU - Eiji Nakatani
AU - Yasuto Sato
AU - Hideaki Kaneda
AU - Hiromitsu Ohno
AU - Akira Sugawara
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/02
JO - Journal of health, population, and nutrition
DO - 10.1186/s41043-026-01408-5
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958461
AB - Background Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; however, the optimal frequency of medical visits remains unclear.Objective To examine whether medical visit frequency is associated with the incidence of cardiac events, cerebrovascular events, and mortality among patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy.Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Shizuoka Kokuho Database between April 1, 2012, and September 30, 2021. Patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy were classified into high-frequency (≥ 22 visits in 2 years) and low-frequency (8-12 visits in 2 years) groups. After 1:3 propensity score matching and exclusion of patients with events within 2 years, 1,435 patients in the low-frequency group and 4,412 in the high-frequency group were analysed.Results Over a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, composite outcomes occurred in 5.6% of both groups (hazard ratio [HR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-1.38; p = 0.571). No significant differences were observed for cardiac events (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.83-1.54), cerebrovascular events (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.67-1.90), or mortality (HR 0.94; 95% CI 0.60-1.48).Conclusion Less frequent visits were not associated with increased risks of cardiovascular events or mortality. Extending visit intervals may therefore be a reasonable option for selected stable patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention.
SN - 1606-0997
SN - 2072-1315
ER -