Community pharmacy data bases to identify patients at high risk for hypercholesterolemia

We compared the effectiveness of selectively screening pharmacy data bases to identify patients with hypercholesterolemia with that of mass cholesterol screening. Screening data bases of four community pharmacies yielded 426 patients filling prescriptions for beta-blockers, thiazide diuretics, oral hypoglycemics, insulin, sublingual nitroglycerin, nicotine gum, or nicotine patches. They were invited to attend a cholesterol screening. Eighty-eight of the contacted patients attended, as did 97 walk-in persons. Cholesterol readings were higher in the contacted group (p = 0.017). Borderline-high cholesterol levels (200-239 mg/dl) were reported in 36.3% of the contacted group and 29.8% of the walk-in group. High cholesterol levels (> 239 mg/dl) were reported in 31.8% and 18.6%, respectively. Targeting certain drugs that directly contribute to raising cholesterol or indicate other risk factors for coronary artery disease (e.g., diabetes mellitus) was an effective method of identifying patients with hypercholesterolemia.