Table 1 Patient characteristics categorized by LDLc target groups

Number of patients (% of total population)

428

184 (43)

150 (35)

94 (22)

P-value

Age, years

63 ± 9

64 ± 9

62 ± 9

62 ± 10

0.10

Male, n (%)

248 (58)

117 (64)

79 (55)

52 (52)

0.11

Duration of diabetes, years

11 [7–18]

13 [8–20]

11 [6–18]

10 [5–14]

0.006

Serum HbA1c, mmol/mol

57 ± 12

58 ± 11

56 ± 12

58 ± 13

0.12

Serum HbA1c, %

7.4 ± 3.2

7.5 ± 3.2

7.3 ± 3.2

7.5 ± 3.3

0.12

Insulin use, n (%)

271 (63)

129 (70)

88 (62)

54 (54)

0.02

Systolic blood pressure, mmHg

136 ± 16

136 ± 17

137 ± 16

136 ± 17

0.70

Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg

74 ± 10

73 ± 10

75 ± 9

75 ± 10

0.17

Heart frequency, beats/min

74 ± 13

73 ± 13

75 ± 12

74 ± 12

0.52

Antihypertensive treatment, n (%)

347 (81)

159 (86)

113 (79)

75 (74)

0.32

Total number of drugs

7 ± 3

7 ± 3

7 ± 3

6 ± 3

0.02

Microvascular disease, n (%)

280 (65)

135 (74)

85 (60)

60 (61)

0.008

 Diabetic nephropathy, n (%)

178 (42)

90 (49)

50 (35)

38 (38)

0.02

 Retinopathy, n (%)

103 (24)

59 (32)

32 (23)

12 (12)

0.001

 Neuropathy, n (%)

155 (36)

70 (38)

42 (29)

43 (43)

0.03

Macrovascular disease, n (%)

149 (35)

78 (42)

38 (27)

33 (33)

0.007

 Coronary heart disease, n (%)

93 (22)

49 (27)

22 (15)

22 (22)

0.04

 Cerebrovascular disease, n (%)

46 (22)

25 (14)

13 (9)

8 (8)

0.26

 Peripheral artery disease, n (%)

42 (10)

26 (14)

4 (3)

12 (12)

0.003

Total cholesterol, mmol/l

4.0 ± 0.9

3.3 ± 0.5

4.1 ± 0.4

5.0 ± 0.7

 < 0.001

LDL-cholesterol, mmol/l

2.0 ± 0.8

1.4 ± 0.3

2.1 ± 0.2

3.1 ± 0.5

 < 0.001

HDL-cholesterol, mmol/l

1.1 ± 0.3

1.1 ± 0.3

1.2 ± 0.4

1.1 ± 0.3

0.04

Total cholesterol/HDL ratio, mmol/l

3.8 ± 1.4

3.2 ± 1.0

3.7 ± 1.1

4.9 ± 1.7

 < 0.001

Triglycerides, mmol/l

1.8 ± 0.9

1.9 ± 1.0

1.8 ± 0.8

1.9 ± 0.8

0.04

C-reactive protein, mg/l

2 [1–5]

2 [1–5]

2 [1–5]

3 [1–6]

0.13

Pharmacological lipid-lowering therapy

 Statin, n (%)

324 (76)

169 (92)

114 (76)

41 (44)

 < 0.001

 Ezetimibe, n (%)

34 (8)

9 (5)

10 (7)

15 (16)

0.004

 Statin + ezetimibe, n (%)

22 (5)

8 (4)

6 (4)

8 (9)

0.16

 Fibrate, n (%)

10 (2)

0 (0)

4 (3)

6 (6)

0.003

 Statin + fibrate, n (%)

4 (1)

0 (0)

2 (1)

2 (2)

0.17

 Other lipid-lowering therapy, n (%)

1 (0)

0 (0)

1 (1)

0 (0)

0.40

 No lipid-lowering therapy, n (%)

87 (20)

14 (8)

31 (21)

42 (45)

 < 0.001

 Glucagon-like peptide-1 analogs, n (%)

43 (10)

14 (8)

20 (13)

9 (10)

0.22

Lifestyle and nutritional factors

 BMI, kg/m²

32.0 ± 6.3

33.0 ± 6.3

33.1 ± 6.0

32.4 ± 6.8

0.16

 BMI ≤ 25 kg/m², n (%)

24 (6)

7 (4)

8 (5)

9 (10)

0.14

 Waist circumference, cm

112 ± 14

113 ± 14

112 ± 14

108 ± 14

0.02

 Current smoker, n (%)

72 (17)

20 (20)

28 (15)

24 (17)

0.57

 Adherence guideline physical activity, n (%)

244 (59)

97 (56)

92 (63)

55 (60)

0.46

 Total caloric intake, kcal/day

1922 ± 636

1922 ± 645

1958 ± 628

1865 ± 632

0.56

 Vegetables, g/day

98 [57–136]

95 [49–124]

99 [56–146]

101 [72–136]

0.26

 Fruits, g/day

123 [66–227]

120 [66–218]

130 [73–226]

116 [66–232]

0.68

 Legumes, g/day

12 [0–27]

17 [4–28]

11 [0–24]

11 [0–30]

0.34

 Nuts, g/day

3 [0–9]

3 [0–6]

4 [0–11]

4 [0–10]

0.05

 Dairy, g/day

213 [104–357]

231 [118–343]

207 [87–394]

167 [89–289]

0.10

 Fish, g/day

10 [3–20]

10 [3–21]

11 [4–19]

10 [2–17]

0.72

 Tea, g/day

71 [0–250]

71 [0–250]

71 [0–250]

125 [9–250]

0.12

 Butter, hard margarines and cooking fats, g/day

0 [0–7]

0 [0–7]

0 [0–7]

0 [0–5]

0.73

 Red meat, g/day

91 [66–117]

92 [69–117]

93 [69–125]

85 [58–110]

0.13

 Processed meat, g/day

48 [30–72]

49 [30–73]

50 [33–70]

44 [26–65]

0.38

 Sweetened beverages and fruit juices, g/day

27 [0–129]

21 [0–127]

27 [0–129]

29 [0–105]

0.88

 Alcohol, units/month

5 [0–31]

3 [0–37]

8 [0–30]

4 [0–25]

0.50

 Sodium, g/day

4.3 ± 1.8

4.2 ± 1.7

4.4 ± 2.0

4.1 ± 1.8

0.41