BACKGROUND: With an increasing number of follow-up studies of acute respiratory failure survivors, there is need for a better understanding of participant retention and its reporting in this field of research. Hence, our objective was to synthesize participant retention data and associated reporting for this field. METHODS: Two screeners independently searched for acute respiratory failure survivorship studies within a published scoping review to evaluate subject outcomes after hospital discharge in critical illness survivors. RESULTS: There were 21 acute respiratory failure studies (n 5 4,342 survivors) over 47 follow-up time points. Six-month follow-up (range: 2-60 months) was the most frequently reported time point, in 81% of studies. Only 1 study (5%) reported accounting for loss to follow-up in sample-size calculation. Retention rates could not be calculated for 5 (24%) studies. In 16 studies reporting on retention across all time points, retention ranged from 32% to 100%. Pooled retention rates at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months were 85%, 89%, 82%, and 88%, respectively. Retention rates did not significantly differ by publication year, participant mean age, or when comparing earlier (3 months) versus each later follow-up time point (6, 12, or 24 months). CONCLUSIONS: Participant retention was generally high but varied greatly across individual studies and time points, with 24% of studies reporting inadequate data to calculate retention rate. High participant retention is possible, but resources for optimizing retention may help studies retain participants. Improved reporting guidelines with greater adherence would be beneficial.
Background:
Current guidelines for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) have explicitly highlighted the direct correlation of reduced LDL-C with a subsequent risk reduction in further ischemic events. Little is known about secular trends of LDL-cholesterol below 70 mg/ml among Veterans with ASCVD over the past two decades.
Hypothesis:
Among Veterans with ASCVD who are receiving lipid-lowering therapy, the proportion of those not treated to goal (LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL) has been declining between 2002 and 2020.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective cohort study with an annual accounting of treatment information and LDL-C lab results between 2003 to 2020 for US Veterans with prevalent ASCVD who had at least one LDL-C lab value during the year prior to January 1st of the index year. Dyslipidemia was defined as LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL and ASCVD was defined as one inpatient or two outpatient diagnoses or one procedure diagnosis for MI, stroke, CAD, PAD, or angina. We investigated annual trends in proportion of Veterans with ASCVD who achieved LDL-C<70 mg/dL using lipid-lowering agents.
Results:
The study population consisted of 1,182,657 Veterans with a mean age of 72.5 years, 97% male, and a mean BMI of 29.8 kg/m
2
. The mean LDL-C in 2003 was 84.7 mg/dl and 739,295 (62.5%) participants had an LDL-C ≥70 mg/dl. We observed a steady increase in the proportion of Veterans achieving LDL below 70 mg/dl during the study period (Figure).
Conclusion:
Our data are consistent with a steady increase in proportion of US Veterans with ASCVD with LDL treated to goal between 2003 and 2020.
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