A comparison of results of a national cholesterol and blood pressure screening with the NHANES II Study: implications for further emphasis on reducing cardiovascular risk among Americans.

A comparison was made of serum total cholesterol and blood pressure levels taken from participants in a voluntary national health screening (N = 257,665) in 1988 with estimates for the general U.S. population from the NHANES II Study (1976-80). Although total serum cholesterol and blood pressure levels in the national health screening may be biased due to a higher proportion of females and whites, curvilinear age-related increases in mean total serum cholesterol (peak years 60-69) of approximately the same proportions among "desirable" to "high" classifications, and similar proportional increases in elevated blood pressure readings across age groups, were found in both the voluntary screening and NHANES II population estimates. Within and between gender-comparisons of total cholesterol and blood pressure measures showed greater risk among participants in the present study. The findings suggest that both blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels in the U.S. may not have decreased appreciably in the past decade, and that continued national, state and local public health efforts to modify behaviors related to hypercholesteremia and hypertension are warranted.