Relation of plasma lipids to all-cause mortality in Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic elders.
OBJECTIVE
to investigate the relation of plasma lipids to all-cause mortality in a multi-ethnic cohort of non-demented elderly.


METHODS
community-based sample of Medicare recipients, 65 years and older, residing in Northern Manhattan.


METHODS
about two thousand five hundred and fifty-six non-demented elderly, 65-103 years. Among participants, 66.1% were women, 27.6% were White/non-Hispanic, 31.2% were African-American and 41.2% were Hispanic.


METHODS
a standardised assessment, including functional ability, medical history, physical and neurological examination and a neuropsychological battery was conducted. Vital status was ascertained through the National Death Index (NDI). We used survival analyses stratified by race and ethnicity to examine the relation of plasma lipids to subsequent all-cause mortality.


RESULTS
hispanics had the best overall survival, followed by African-Americans and Whites. Whites and African-Americans in the lowest quartiles of total cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) were approximately twice as likely to die as those in the highest quartile (White HR: 2.2, for lowest total cholesterol quartile; HR: 2.3, for lowest non-HDL cholesterol quartile; and HR: 1.8, for lowest LDL cholesterol quartile. African-American HR: 1.9, for lowest total cholesterol, HR: 2.0, for lowest non-HDL cholesterol and HR: 1.9, for lowest LDL cholesterol). In contrast, plasma lipid levels were not related to mortality risk among Hispanics.


CONCLUSIONS
hispanic ethnicity modifies the associations between lipid levels and all-cause mortality in the elderly.
Akerblom
Jennifer L
JL
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Costa
Rosann
R
Luchsinger
Jose A
JA
Manly
Jennifer J
JJ
Tang
Ming-Xin
MX
Lee
Joseph H
JH
Mayeux
Richard
R
Schupf
Nicole
N
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D011336:Probability; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014505:Urban Population; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D002784:Cholesterol