OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe the levels of Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) in patients diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in Colombian Health System in 2016.

METHODS: The group made an analysis of a database of the High Cost Account which is an organization created by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance of the country, the population was described with confirmed diagnosis of DM, reported by the insurers of Colombia during the year 2016, results were obtained from all departments and the totality of the country insurers. 99.837 records were found whose have diagnosis of DM confirmed. The analysis was descriptive through measures of central tendency and dispersion depending on the nature of each variable.

RESULTS: Less than 1% of the population with DM was between 18 and 39 years old. The highest levels of LDL-C (≥190 mg / dl) were within the overweight population and in those whose Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure (BP) was between 120 - 139 (60%) and <80 (48.4%) respectively. Extreme values of systolic (≥160mmHg) and diastolic (≥100mmHg) BP represented the lowest incidence within this risk group (less than 2%).

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the prevalence of high LDL-C for individuals diagnosed with DM was estimated at 5% in the Colombian population. These results agree with studies that show that diabetic dyslipidemia is characterized by normal or slightly increased LDL-C. It is necessary to evaulate the behavior of small and dense LDL-C particles in the development of DM.