Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The mortality rate from cardiovascular disease (CVD) among young adults has declined less than that in the older population, raising concerns about the increasing prevalence of obesity-related conditions including hypercholesterolemia in the younger population. We investigated the age-standardized mean levels of serum cholesterols and the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control rates of hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia based on age.

Methods: Nationally representative samples of 19 489 subjects aged ≥20 years were analyzed from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2008–2010. Hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia was individually evaluated by the 2004 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines.

Results: Age-standardized mean levels of total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C and triglycerides were 186.8, 48.0, 112.9, and 136.0 mg/dl respectively. Age-standardized prevalence of hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia was 23.2% (men, 25.5% and women, 21.8%). Among subjects with hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia, awareness and treatment rates were significantly lower in younger adults (<50 years) compared to older adults ≥50 years (awareness, 8.0 vs 21.5%; treatment, 5.1 vs 18.5%, all P<0.001), indicating significant discrepancies in awareness and treatment rates of hypercholesterolemia between younger and older adults. Among subjects aware of their hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia, younger adults were more likely to have controlled LDL-C than the elderly (82.1 vs 67.5%, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Compared to the elderly, significant proportions of young and middle-aged adults are unaware of their hypercholesterolemia and are not treated with proper lipid-lowering medications. Early screening, education and proper management should be stressed in national public healthcare policies to reduce the increasing burden of CVD in the younger population with undiagnosed hypercholesterolemia.