Prevalence of hypercholesterolemia in the elderly and very elderly members of the Polish population: results of a national cross‑sectional representative survey.

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Lipid disorders are the most common cardiovascular risk factor among the adult population in Poland. However, epidemiological data on the ever‑growing group of older adults remain insufficient. Our aim was to describe and analyze the epidemiology of lipid disorders among Polish seniors. A random sample of 4101 participants (2136 men; 1965 women) aged 65 to 104 years, evenly distributed across age subgroups (65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, and ≥90 years), was included in the cross‑sectional, national PolSenior survey. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure values, and blood samples for lipid profile testing were obtained. Hypercholesterolemia was present in 62.4% of Polish seniors (56.1% of men; 66.3% of women). The highest mean (95% CI) total cholesterol (TC) levels were observed in those aged 65-69 years: 206 (201-210.9) mg/dl in men and 220.6 (215.6-225.6) mg/dl in women. Women had higher TC levels than men across all age groups. Mean (95% CI) low‑density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‑C) levels followed a similar trend: in women, they decreased from 131.6 (127.2-136.1) mg/dl in the age group of 65-69 years to 120.1 (115.2-125) mg/dl in those aged 90 years or above. In men, LDL-C values declined from 121.6 (117.3-125.9) mg/dl to 106.5 (102.5-110.5) mg/dl over the same age span. LDL‑C concentrations were higher in women across all age categories. In the elderly Polish population, mean serum TC and LDL‑C concentrations are consistently higher in women than in men. The findings emphasize the significance of lipid disorders as a cardiovascular risk factor in older adults in Poland.