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Judith Walsh, MD, MPH
Veterans Affairs Medical Center San Francisco, Calif

Thomas B. Newman, MD, MPH
University of California San Francisco

JAMA. 1993;270(13):1546.

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

To the Editor.

—We read with interest the article by Giles et al¹ entitled "Recent Trends in the Identification and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol by Physicians: Progress and Missed Opportunities." Giles et al define a "missed opportunity" for cholesterol screening as a patient's not having been screened for high blood cholesterol (HBC) despite having seen a physician for preventive care in the past 2 years. They concluded that missed opportunities are most common in individuals aged 20 to 34 years and in women who had seen obstetricians/gynecologists for preventive care.

In explaining their findings, Giles et al note that "physicians' perceptions about the usefulness of identifying and treating HBC for younger persons may be different than for older persons." In fact, the usefulness of identifying and treating HBC in younger and older persons is different. Gender and age are important determinants of absolute coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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