Facts and Statistics

• High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease.
   
• About 17% of adult Americans aged 20 years and older have high total cholesterol (240 mg/dL or above).¹
   
• The average blood cholesterol level in adult Americans is about 203 mg/dL.¹
   
• In 2004, there were 6.5 million visits to doctors’ offices that included a cholesterol test being done or ordered.²
   
• Among African Americans, about 16.6% of women and 12.5% of men have high total cholesterol.²
   
• Among Mexican Americans, about 12.7% of women and 17.6% of men have high total cholesterol.²
   
• Among whites, 17.4% of women and 17.0% of men have high cholesterol.²
   
• The percentage of persons aged 20–74 years with high cholesterol dropped from 33% in 1960–1962 to 17% in 1999–2002. During that same time period, the average blood cholesterol levels in adults dropped from 222 mg/dL to 203 mg/dL.²
   
• The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that all adults have their cholesterol checked once every 5 years.³
   
• In 2005, 73% of adults reported that that they had their cholesterol checked within the previous 5 years, according to data from CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Some 23% reported that they never had their cholesterol checked.⁴
   
• According to data from CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2005), 75.7% of whites, 73.7% of African Americans, and 52% of Hispanics reported having had their cholesterol checked within the previous 5 years.⁴
   

References

1. National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2005, with Chartbook on the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, Maryland: 2004. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm.
    
2. CDC. Fastats: cholesterol (based on 2004 National ambulatory medical care survey). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats.
    
3. Third Report of the Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol/index.htm.
    
4. CDC. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. 2005 prevalence data. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/brfss.

Page last reviewed: November 8, 2007
Page last modified: November 8, 2007

Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion