Prevalence of hypercholesterolemia in the elderly and the very elderly members of the Polish population: results of a national cross-sectional representative survey.

Introduction: Lipid disorders are the most common cardiovascular risk factor among adult population in Poland. However, there is still insufficient epidemiological data for an ever-growing group of older people.

Objectives: The aim was to describe and analyze the epidemiology of lipid disorders among Polish seniors Patients and methods: The random sample of 4101 participants (M = 2136; W = 1965) aged 65-104, equally distributed in age subgroups (65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, and 90(+)-year-old subjects), participated in a cross-sectional, national survey PolSenior. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and blood samples for tests of lipid profile were obtained.

Results: 62.4% of Polish seniors (56.1% of men and 66.3% of women) suffered from hypercholesterolemia. TC level was the highest among 65-69-year-olds, both men (206.0 [201.0-210.9] mg/dL) and women (220.6 [215.6-225.6] mg/dL). Women in each age group had a higher TC concentration than men. Also, in terms of LDL-C, the highest level was found in women aged 65-69 years (131.6 [127.2-136.1] mg/dL) and decreased in older age groups to 120.1 [115.2-125.0] mg/dL in women >90 years of age; similar in men: 121.6 [117.3-125.9] mg/dL in 65-69 y. o. and 106.5 [102.5-110.5] mg/dL in the group over 90 years old. In all the respective age groups, LDL-C was higher in women.

Conclusions: In the Polish population among the elderly mean serum TC and LDL-C concentrations are higher in women than in men. The results obtained highlight the importance of lipid disorders as a risk factor also among the elderly Poles.