[Distribution of plasma cholesterol in 4 Swiss cities]

As part of the Swiss National Research Programme on Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases, plasma cholesterol was determined in 7947 adults of all ages. The distribution of the values obtained in the four Swiss cities investigated is given by age, sex and nationality. Percentile graphs of the whole sample show the influence of age for each sex. On the basis of these results it is estimated that amongst people aged 16-69 years living Switzerland, 7.4% of the men and 8.4% of the women can be expected to have a plasma cholesterol level above 280 mg/dl (7.25 mmol/l). The different relationships between plasma cholesterol and other factors such as consumption of tobacco or alcohol and body mass index were investigated. The latter shows a significant correlation coefficient (r = 0.2, p less than 0.001) for each sex, for the age group 25-44 and for each of the cities. Alcohol consumption is also directly associated with total blood cholesterol. The role of this factor is discussed in relation to the differences in plasma cholesterol observed between the cities.