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Ken Resnicow, PhD; Gerald Berenson, MD; Steven Shea, MD; Sathanur Srinivasan, PhD; William Strong, MD; E. L. Wynder, MD

JAMA. 1991;265(22):3003-3005.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

IN A RECENT edition of THE JOURNAL, two related articles questioned the efficacy and safety of screening and treating children for hypercholesterolemia. The chief conclusion drawn by Lauer and Clarke,¹ and a cornerstone of the thesis presented by Newman et al,² was that "many children with high cholesterol levels do not become adults with high cholesterol levels." This message, which was widely promulgated in the lay and scientific media, has significant public health implications. However, both articles contain flaws in methods and reasoning that threaten the validity of the conclusions drawn. This Commentary addresses these limitations, beginning with the study of Lauer and Clarke.

Methods Used to Calculate Sensitivity and Positive Predictive Value

Based on the data presented by Lauer and Clarke, the National Cholesterol Education Program's cut point of 5.17 mmol/L (200 mg/dL) was approximately the 80th percentile in their adult population. Therefore, the maximum sensitivity of . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the American Health Foundation, New York, NY (Drs Resnicow and Wynder); Section of Cardiology (Dr Berenson) and Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry (Dr Srinivasan), Louisiana State University and Medical Center, New Orleans; Children's Cardiovascular Health Center and Department of Medicine, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY (Dr Shea); and the Section of Pediatric Cardiology, The Medical College of Georgia, Augusta (Dr Strong).

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Division of Health Promotion Research, American Health Foundation, 320 E 43rd St, New York, NY 10017 (Dr Resnicow).

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