Cholesterol reduction following health screening in general practice

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of primary health care Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 219 - 223
• Main Authors: Kanstrup, Helle, Refsgaard, Jens, Engberg, Marianne, Lassen, Jens Flensted, Larsen, Mogens Lytken, Lauritzen, Torsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Informa UK Ltd 01-12-2002; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Adult; Blood; Changes; Cholesterol; Cholesterol - blood; Counseling - statistics & numerical data; Denmark; Denmark - epidemiology; Ebeltoft Project; Family Practice - organization & administration; Female; General practice; Health care; Health Checks; Health Promotion; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia - diagnosis; Hypercholesterolemia - epidemiology; Hypercholesterolemia - prevention & control; Lifestyle; Lipid Lowering; Male; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Middle aged people; Office Visits; Program Evaluation; Random Allocation; Risk Factors; Screening
• ISSN: 0281-3432; 1502-7724
• DOI: 10.1080/028134302321004872

Objectives - To evaluate changes in plasma cholesterol following health screening and health discussions in general practice. Design - Randomised prospective population-based study conducted over a period of 5 years. Setting - Primary care, all general practitioners (GPs) in a welldefined area. Subjects - A random sample of inhabitants aged 30-49 years in January 1991, registered with a local GP was invited to participate. The participants (1507 persons, or 75.4% of the 2000 invited) were randomly allocated to two intervention groups and a control group. Main outcome measures - Plasma cholesterol, percentage of subjects with plasma cholesterol higher than 7 mmol/l. Results - After 5 years of intervention, plasma cholesterol in the whole population was significantly lower in the intervention groups compared to the control group. The decrease was most pronounced (0.5 mmol/l) in subjects at high cardiovascular risk. The percentage of high-risk individuals with a cholesterol level higher than 7 mmol/l was significantly lower in the intervention groups compared to the control group (9.8% vs 6.2%, p =0.04), corresponding to a 37% reduction. Conclusions - The study shows that the health checks had a measurable impact on plasma cholesterol levels, the most pronounced effect is seen among individuals at high cardiovascular risk.