title: Parents' behavior and attitudes toward screening children for high serum cholesterol levels.
abstract: The American Academy of Pediatrics, concerned that pediatric cholesterol screening may lead to mislabeling and overly restrictive diets, stresses laboratory confirmation and nutritional follow-up for children with elevated cholesterol levels. Parents' behavior and attitudes toward screening children for high cholesterol were studied. During an 8-week period in summer of 1989 all children 2 through 15 years of age seen for well-child examinations at a community pediatric group practice were offered cholesterol screening by finger-stick method. Most parents were well-educated and white. Of 439 children screened, 134 (31%) had cholesterol levels above the recommended cutoff point of 175 mg/dL (75th percentile). Only 63 children returned for confirmatory lipid panels; parents of children who did not return were interviewed. Reasons for noncompliance included "not sure test machine was accurate" (67%); "child too traumatized by finger stick" (47%); and "will try low-cholesterol diet before recheck" (40%). A third of these parents believed that confirmation of an elevated cholesterol level "would make the child worry too much." Only 29% of these parents talked with a dietician. In this middle-class, well-educated population, a large proportion of children had elevated screening cholesterol values, but few complied with American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. As a result, many children may be mislabeled as hypercholesterolemic and may not benefit from screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lannon
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Earp
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol