Monitoring Cholesterol Levels: Understanding Variance and Finding the Most Useful Data
Authors: Liu Hong, Kaichun Wu, Daiming Fan
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2008)

Letters16 September 2008Monitoring Cholesterol Levels: Understanding Variance and Finding the Most Useful DataLiu Hong, PhD, Kaichun Wu, PhD, and Daiming Fan, PhDLiu Hong, PhDFrom Institute of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.Search for more papers by this author, Kaichun Wu, PhDFrom Institute of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.Search for more papers by this author, and Daiming Fan, PhDFrom Institute of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-149-6-200809160-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:As Glasziou and colleagues (1) report, after the initial decrease in cholesterol level in response to treatment, subsequent cholesterol level monitoring may be much less frequent than is currently recommended. They show that much of current testing will detect only false-positive results, which are related to either short-term biological variation or analytic error (1). However, they don't clearly show the factors inducing false-positive results or a way to decrease variation.We would like to ask some questions. First, what are the statistical factors that induce the differences observed? Except for pravastatin treatment, the variation in cholesterol levels ...References1. Glasziou PP, Irwig L, Heritier S, Simes RJ, Tonkin A; LIPID Study Investigators. Monitoring cholesterol levels: measurement error or true change? Ann Intern Med. 2008;148:656-61. [PMID: 18458278] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Bogers RP, Bemelmans WJ, Hoogenveen RT, Boshuizen HC, Woodward M, Knekt P, et al; BMI-CHD Collaboration Investigators. Association of overweight with increased risk of coronary heart disease partly independent of blood pressure and cholesterol levels: a meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies including more than 300 000 persons. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1720-8. [PMID: 17846390] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Institute of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoMonitoring Cholesterol Levels: Measurement Error or True Change? Paul P. Glasziou , Les Irwig , Stephane Heritier , R. John Simes , Andrew Tonkin , and Monitoring Cholesterol Levels: Understanding Variance and Finding the Most Useful Data Paul P. Glasziou and Les Irwig Monitoring Cholesterol Levels: Understanding Variance and Finding the Most Useful Data Justin W. Timbie Monitoring Cholesterol Levels: Understanding Variance and Finding the Most Useful Data William E. Cayley Metrics 16 September 2008Volume 149, Issue 6Page: 437KeywordsAlcoholic beveragesAttentionCholesterolConflicts of interestEating habitsExercise ePublished: 16 September 2008 Issue Published: 16 September 2008 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2008 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...