title: Association between serum cholesterol and noncardiovascular mortality in older age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the association between cholesterol and noncardiovascular mortality and to evaluate how this association varies across age groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective population-based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adults aged 55 to 99 (N = 5,750).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were evaluated for total cholesterol and subfractions and followed for mortality for a median of 13.9 years. Total cholesterol and its subfractions were evaluated in relation to noncardiovascular mortality. Cox regression analyses were conducted in the total sample and within age-groups (55-64, 65-74, 75-84, ≥85).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age- and sex-adjusted analyses showed that each 1-mmol/L increase in total cholesterol was associated with an approximately 12% lower risk of noncardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.84-0.92, P < .001). Age group-specific analyses demonstrated that this association reached significance after the age of 65 and increased in magnitude across each subsequent decade. This was driven largely by non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) (HR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.85-0.93, P < .001) and was partly attributable to cancer mortality. Conversely, HDL-C was not significantly associated with noncardiovascular mortality (HR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.79-1.07, P = .26).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher total cholesterol was associated with a lower risk of noncardiovascular mortality in older adults. This association varied across the late-life span and was stronger in older age groups. Further research is required to examine the mechanisms underlying this association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rachel S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Newson
authors.forename: Janine F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Felix
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heeringa
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: Jacqueline C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Witteman
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009426:Netherlands; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D002784:Cholesterol