Bad Cholesterol Levels Drop, More Screening Needed

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(Ivanhoe Newswire) Even though the number of adults in the U.S. with high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) decreased by about one-third between 1999 and 2006, many at-risk adults still are not being screened for high cholesterol levels.

Elena V. Kuklina, M.D., Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues investigated trends in the prevalence of screening, current use of cholesterol-lowering medication, and high LDL levels between 1999 and 2006. The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and restricted the study to fasting participants age 20 years or older. The final study sample consisted of 7,044 participants.

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Overall prevalence for high LDL levels decreased from 31.5 percent in 1999-2000 to 21.2 percent in 2005-2006. Among participants with high LDL levels, however, 35.5 percent were unscreened, 24.9 percent undiagnosed, and 39.6 percent untreated or inadequately treated in 2005-2006. In the high-risk category, about one-fifth of participants who were eligible for lipid-lowering drug therapy were not receiving it in 2005-2006.

"Self-reported use of lipid-lowering medications increased from 8 percent to 13.4 percent, but screening rates did not change significantly, remaining less than 70 percent during the study periods," the authors wrote. They added that one roadblock to improving screening rates may be the lack of consensus among caregivers regarding the age at which screening should begin.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), November 18, 2009

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