COMMUNITY PHARMACY DATA-BASES TO IDENTIFY PATIENTS AT HIGH-RISK FOR HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA

We compared the effectiveness of selectively screening pharmacy data b ases to identify patients with hypercholesterolemia with that of mass cholesterol screening. Screening data bases of four community pharmaci es yielded 426 patients filling prescriptions for beta-blockers, thiaz ide diuretics, oral hypoglycemics, insulin, sublingual nitroglycerin, nicotine gum, or nicotine patches. They were invited to attend a chole sterol screening. Eighty-eight of the contacted patients attended, as did 97 walk-in persons. Cholesterol readings were higher in the contac ted group (p=0.017). Borderline-high cholesterol levels (200-239 mg/dl ) were reported in 36.3% of the contacted group and 29.8% of the walk- in group. High cholesterol levels (> 239 mg/dl) were reported in 31.8% and 18.6%, respectively. Targeting certain drugs that directly contri bute to raising cholesterol or indicate other risk factors for coronar y artery disease (e.g., diabetes mellitus) was an effective method of identifying patients with hypercholesterolemia.