R P Killinger | PubMed Health

PubMed1993

Factors associated with serum cholesterol level in a pediatric practice. Cholesterol screening in a pediatric practice.

The associations between age, sex, height, Quetelet index, blood pressure, and serum cholesterol level were examined among 1406 routinely screened children, aged 4 to 19 years, in a pediatric practice. After adjustment for sex and age, height and Quetelet index were associated with serum cholesterol levels. Quetelet index was shown by multiple linear regression to be positively related to cholesterol levels (b = 0.780, P < 0.01), but the predictive value of screening based on an elevated Quetelet index was marginal. Clustering of elevated serum cholesterol level, Quetelet index, and systolic blood pressure was observed. Familial aggregation of cholesterol levels was demonstrated using analysis of variance for 742 children from 342 families included in the regression analysis (F341,400 = 1.56, P < 0.0001). The intraclass correlation coefficient, a measure of familial aggregation, was 0.205 (P < 0.0001). Age, sex, height, Quetelet index, and familial aggregation accounted for 10.6% of the variance in serum cholesterol levels. Siblings of children with high cholesterol levels are a high-yield group in cholesterol screening.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Cholesterol screening in pediatric practice.

Four pediatricians introduced a portable cholesterol analyzer into their group practice. Their experience is described on the basis of 12 months of screening in 1665 children and adolescents. The overall 50th and 90th percentile values for a subgroup of 1406 routinely screened children were 156 and 197 mg/dL, respectively, but there was marked variation in these values among specific age and sex groups. Cholesterol levels decreased by age group during the early teenage years and increased thereafter, these changes occurring at ages approximately 2 years younger for girls than for boys. Further analysis of screening results for 398 sibling pairs demonstrated significant concordance between paired cholesterol levels when classified by the respective age- and sex-specific 90th percentile values for each member of the pair. Sibling pairs in which both members' cholesterol values exceeded their 90th percentile value were identified 2.4 times as frequently as expected (confidence interval 1.1 to 4.5, P = .029). The observations reported here indicate that office-based cholesterol screening in a pediatric practice may be both practical and useful, although further consideration of screening criteria is needed. Age- and sex-specific reference values for cholesterol levels during childhood could improve screening results. Special emphasis should be directed toward screening siblings of children in whom high cholesterol levels have been detected.

Adolescent↗