Physician follow-up of a community cholesterol-screening project

We report the results of physician follow-up of a group of community cholesterol-screening participants with hypercholesterolemia two years after the initial screening. Of 443 participants in a 1987 screening program, 51 (12%) had a cholesterol greater than the program cutoff of 7.16 mmol/L (277 mg/dL). In 1989, follow-up data from office records review and patient questionnaires were available on 48 (94%) of the 51 participants. Forty-three participants (90%) had consulted with a physician as advised. Twenty-five participants (66%) of the charts reviewed) had lipid profiles performed subsequent to the 1987 screening. Of the 43 participants consulting their physicians, twenty-six (60%) were prescribed a lipid-lowering regimen. Twenty-two were prescribed diet alone, fourteen also received prescriptions for medication, and two were advised to exercise more. Thirty subjects had had cholesterol levels checked in 1989, two years after the screening program. This group experienced an average decrease of 1.32 mmol/L (51 mg/dL), but several confounding factors may have contributed to this 16%-mean decline in cholesterol. Men were underrepresented throughout the screening and follow-up process. This community cholesterol-screening project in a small rural community achieved a high physician follow-up rate.