Cholesterol screening of older persons: focusing on health education.
Public education about cholesterol screening and evaluation has been strongly recommended by the Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol (1988). For older persons, limited clinical evidence about benefits that may be derived from screening efforts poses particular challenges to education efforts by health care providers. Additionally, professional and lay information sources offer mixed messages about the purpose of cholesterol screenings. Studying a community hospital cholesterol-screening program provided a timely way to provide insight about the meaning of cholesterol evaluations for older persons. Findings from the program evaluation are discussed in light of the debate that continues about the benefits of cholesterol evaluation and treatment in older persons.
Schirm
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College of Nursing, University of Akron, OH 44325-3703.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015397:Program Evaluation