The Lipid Research Clinics-Prevalence Study
Objectives:
The LRC Program began in 1971 under the sponsorship of
the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.
Part of this program was the Lipid Research Clinics Prevalence Study, a
standardized series of cross-sectional surveys of various North American
populations designed to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemias and to
describe the distributions of lipids and lipoproteins in major ethnic and
social groups. In addition to contributing to the aggregate analysis, each
independent population-based study was designed with capabilities for separate
analyses of lipid and lipoprotein distributions. The participating populations
were not selected to be a probability sample representative of the North
American population per se, but by virtue of their size and economic and
geographical diversity, they provide a useful cross-sectional group.
The Family Study was the third phase of the Lipids
Research Clinics North American Population Studies. The Family Study was
designed to obtain knowledge of the distribution of lipids and lipoproteins
among family members and of the association of familial and genetic attributes
to dyslipoproteinemias.
Background:
An association between serum cholesterol and coronary
heart disease is well established. A system was developed for classifying
hyperlipoproteinemias into six types of patterns, as a basis for characterizing
lipoprotein disorders. The Lipid Research Clinics was thus created to improve
the detection of and clinical management of hyperlipoproteinemias. The three
primary abjectives were: 1) to acquire data on the prevalence of different
types of hyperlipoproteinemia in various age and ethnic groups, with special
emphasis on the nature and frequency of genetic forms; 2) to collect reliable
data on the prevalence and incidence of atherosclerosis in different types of
hyperlipoproteinemia; and 3) to conduct an intervention trial to determine if
lowering plasma lipid levels would reduce the risk of CHD.
Subjects:
The populations of the study fall into three
categories: occupational groups, household or residential groups, and school
children and their parents. The occupational groups were ascertained through
their employers; the household groups typically were ascertained through
canvassing of residential areas; and children and their parents were screened
by determining the children in school and contacting their parents.
Conclusions:
Data from this study confirm findings from earlier
studies in developed countries, showing age-related differences in plasma lipid
levels. However, for overall distributions, the LRC data showed slightly lower
cholesterol and markedly higher trigylceride values than those previously
reported for North America. Some variation in plasma lipid values was evident
among the clinic populations.
The large number of participants within most subgroups
permitted a variety of analytic and comparative studies. For example, data from
the large pediatric population revealed a drop in plasma cholesterol levels in
adolescent males and females. Males aged 20-50 years had higher cholesterol
levels than females in the same age group, and higher trigylceride levels
bewteen ages 20-70 years. Numbers were also sigfficient for meaningful
comparisons between lipid distributions of females who were taking sex hormones
and those who were not; in females taking sex hormones, cholesterol and
triglyceride levels were higher for subjects younger than 45 years, but
slightly lower after age 45, than lipid levels in females not taking hormones
(Circulation 1979; 60(2):427-439).
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Study Website |
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Study Documentation |
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Data Distribution Agreement |
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