Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Public Health Reports logoLink to Public Health Reports
. 1992 May-Jun;107(3):345–351.

Awareness and use of blood cholesterol tests in 40-74-year-olds by educational level.

A P Polednak 1
PMCID: PMC1403656  PMID: 1594746

Abstract

Questions on awareness, use, and results of blood cholesterol tests were included in telephone surveys on cancer conducted in 1988 on random samples of persons 40-74 years of age in Long Island, NY (N = 440), and in Connecticut (N = 453). Educational level was significantly and positively associated with the proportions reporting ever having heard of blood cholesterol tests, ever having had a test done ("by a doctor"), and having a recent test, 1987-88, but not with the proportion reportedly having been told by a doctor that their cholesterol level was "high." In multivariate analyses, greater education (college graduate versus all others) and greater frequency of medical checkups (annual versus other) were significant independent predictors of ever having had a cholesterol test or having been tested in 1987 or 1988. Implications of findings were discussed with regard to monitoring changes over time in awareness and use of cholesterol tests according to educational level and to planning interventions aimed at less educated groups.

Full text

PDF
345

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Burke G. L., Sprafka J. M., Folsom A. R., Hahn L. P., Luepker R. V., Blackburn H. Trends in serum cholesterol levels from 1980 to 1987. The Minnesota Heart Survey. N Engl J Med. 1991 Apr 4;324(14):941–946. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199104043241402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Feldman J. J., Makuc D. M., Kleinman J. C., Cornoni-Huntley J. National trends in educational differentials in mortality. Am J Epidemiol. 1989 May;129(5):919–933. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115225. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Marcus A. C., Crane L. A. Telephone surveys in public health research. Med Care. 1986 Feb;24(2):97–112. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198602000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Matthews K. A., Kelsey S. F., Meilahn E. N., Kuller L. H., Wing R. R. Educational attainment and behavioral and biologic risk factors for coronary heart disease in middle-aged women. Am J Epidemiol. 1989 Jun;129(6):1132–1144. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115235. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Polednak A. P. Knowledge of colorectal cancer and use of screening tests among higher-risk persons. J Cancer Educ. 1990;5(2):115–124. doi: 10.1080/08858199009528049. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Polednak A. P. Knowledge of colorectal cancer and use of screening tests in persons 40-74 years of age. Prev Med. 1990 Mar;19(2):213–226. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(90)90022-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Russell N. K., Becker D. M., Finney C. P., Moses H. The yield of cholesterol screening in an urban black community. Am J Public Health. 1991 Apr;81(4):448–451. doi: 10.2105/ajph.81.4.448. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Råstam L., Luepker R. V., Pirie P. L. Effect of screening and referral on follow-up and treatment of high blood cholesterol levels. Am J Prev Med. 1988 Sep-Oct;4(5):244–248. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Schucker B., Bailey K., Heimbach J. T., Mattson M. E., Wittes J. T., Haines C. M., Gordon D. J., Cutler J. A., Keating V. S., Goor R. S. Change in public perspective on cholesterol and heart disease. Results from two national surveys. JAMA. 1987 Dec 25;258(24):3527–3531. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Schucker B., Wittes J. T., Cutler J. A., Bailey K., Mackintosh D. R., Gordon D. J., Haines C. M., Mattson M. E., Goor R. S., Rifkind B. M. Change in physician perspective on cholesterol and heart disease. Results from two national surveys. JAMA. 1987 Dec 25;258(24):3521–3526. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sempos C., Cooper R., Kovar M. G., McMillen M. Divergence of the recent trends in coronary mortality for the four major race-sex groups in the United States. Am J Public Health. 1988 Nov;78(11):1422–1427. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.11.1422. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Stamler J. Opportunities and pitfalls in international comparisons related to patterns, trends and determinants of CHD mortality. Int J Epidemiol. 1989;18(3 Suppl 1):S3–18. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Winkleby M. A., Fortmann S. P., Barrett D. C. Social class disparities in risk factors for disease: eight-year prevalence patterns by level of education. Prev Med. 1990 Jan;19(1):1–12. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(90)90001-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Wynder E. L., Field F., Haley N. J. Population screening for cholesterol determination. A pilot study. JAMA. 1986 Nov 28;256(20):2839–2842. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Public Health Reports are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES