Screening college students for hypercholesterolemia.

Selective screening for children and mass screening for adults are the two strategies for detecting hypercholesterolemia and identifying individuals at risk for early heart attacks that have been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. The interval marking the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood is a time of transition without an unwavering demarcation line. It is a time when many adult disorders that demand attention and detection begin. Because of the close relationship of elevated cholesterol levels in youth to subsequent cardiovascular disease, a small liberal arts university began mandatory mass cholesterol screening for all full- or part-time students who matriculated in September 1977. More than thirty 18- and 19-year-old first-year students with unknown hypercholesterolemia were detected each year. The mean cost per case identified is estimated to have been $212. The author concluded that mass screening of students entering college can identify, at a reasonable cost, students who have high levels of cholesterol.