Contribution of Hypertriglyceridemia to Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease in Korean Women: A Nationwide Population-based Study

Abstract Background The independent effect of serum triglyceride levels on the development of ischemic cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains inconclusive, which might be due to heterogeneity among study populations. Objective To evaluate the effect of triglyceride levels on ischemic CVD and mortality in Korean women, with stratification according to the menopausal status, diabetes mellitus, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (LDL-C). Methods We retrospectively investigated Korean women aged 40-69 years who underwent health examination in 2009 and were followed up until 2018 using nationwide claim data. The subjects were divided according to triglyceride quartiles (Q): Q1 Results Among 2,208,347 women, primary outcome occurred in 62,255 (2.8%) subjects. As triglyceride levels increased, the event rate of primary outcome increased in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women in the fully adjusted model (hazard ratio [HR] per 1 Q, 1.10 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.12] and 1.08 [95% CI, 1.07–1.09], respectively), which was maintained on further stratification according to diabetes or LDL-C (P Conclusion Triglyceride is an independent prognosticator in the development of ischemic CVD in Korean women aged 40–69 years.