Gender and ethnic differences in the control of hyperlipidaemia and other vascular risk factors: insights from the CEntralised Pan-South African survey on tHE Under-treatment of hypercholeSterolaemia (CEPHEUS SA) study.

Aim: The aim of the CEntralised Pan-South African survey on tHE Under-treatment of hypercholeSterolaemia (CEPHEUS SA) was to evaluate the current use and efficacy of lipid-lowering drugs (LLDs) in urban patients of different ethnicity with hyperlipidaemia, and to identify possible patient characteristics associated with failure to achieve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. There is little published data on LDL-C attainment from developing countries.

Method: The survey was conducted in 69 study centres in South Africa and recruited consecutive patients who had been prescribed LLDs for at least three months with no dose adjustment for six weeks.