High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease. However, certain behaviors can prevent or lower high cholesterol, such as eating a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, increasing physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight. Experts recommend cholesterol screening for adults to help them take action to prevent or lower their risk of heart disease.
What percentage of adult women have had a cholesterol check within the past five years?1
The Report Card benchmark is the Healthy People 2010 goal of increasing the percentage of adults who have had their cholesterol checked within the past five years to 80 percent (when applied to women) [Healthy People 2010 Objective 12-15].
Data Source: Cholesterol Screening (%), 2005
EXPLANATION:
This indicator measure includes women age 18 and older in the non-institutionalized civilian population who reported having a cholesterol check in the past five years.
SOURCE:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data, 2005, available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp. The national number is the median of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data for race/ethnicity and age are two-year averages from 2003 and 2005 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population. Note that data for race/ethnicity reported in the Asian/Pacific Islander column reflects only Asian data for 49 states and the District of Columbia and reflects only Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander data for Hawaii. A small number of states included the question in 2004. For those states, the data from 2004 are included and the data reported represents three-year averages (Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia). National Center for Health Statistics, Health Data for All Ages: Health Care Access and Use, Health Status and Disability, and Health Conditions and Risk Factors Tables, available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_data_for_all_ages.htm.