Epidemiological assessment of hyperlipidaemia management in primary health care

To evaluate the impact of contemporary management of hyperlipidaemiaoutside well planned and monitored investigations we studiedthe laboratory records of primary hearth care patients. Thestudy comprises 14,988 primary health care patients who hadbeen subject to at least one determination of serum-cholesterolduring an 18-month period. About half of the group was subjectto more than one examination during the period and presumablyparticipated in an intervention programme. Concentration means(S-cholesterol, S-triglycerides and S-HDL-cholesterol) werecalculated for all and for those returning for a repeated measurement.An overrepresentation of women over 50 and an underrepresentationof men of the same age and in the National Cholesterol EducationProgram (NCEP) risk group was found among those being screened.Patients in the highest cholesterol risk group were the mostsuccessful in reducing S-cholesterol whereas an inaease of S-cholesterolwas found in the lowest risk group. Women under 50 in the highestcholesterol risk group were the most successful group in loweringtheir cholesterol concentrations. Men under 50 were more likelyto return for follow-up than women of the same age; people aged50–70 were the most likely to return, irrespective ofgender and risk group. It was found that initial S-cholesterolwas the only significant predictor of the S-cholesterol concentrationat follow-up. Further attention should be directed to the intermediatecholesterol risk group in an effort to combat preventable IHDand to develop programmes that attract younger women and mento a higher degree than is currently the case.