Cholesterol screening in childhood: Does it predict adult hypercholesterolemia? The Beaver County experience

Abstract

To establish the value of screening children for hypercholesterolemia in terms of identifying future adults with hypercholesterolemia, we studied 611 individuals 9 years after they were initially screened at age 12 years. They represent 61% of a stratified sample of the original cohort, which was drawn from all seventh graders in a countywide school district. Overall, the correlation between baseline and follow-up cholesterol concentration was r = 0.52 (P less than 0.0001). Forty-nine percent of the top cholesterol quintile at baseline were similarly placed at follow-up, with 70% in the top two quintiles. Children who dropped out of the top quintile had lower body mass index at follow-up (P less than 0.05), were less frequently smokers, and tended to be more active than those who were only in the top quintile as adults.