Korean Circ J.  2015 Mar;45(2):141-148. 10.4070/kcj.2015.45.2.141.

Effects of Age, Sex, and Menopausal Status on Blood Cholesterol Profile in the Korean Population

• Park JH
• Lee MH
• Shim JS
• Choi DP
• Song BM
• Lee SW
• Choi H
• Kim HC

• KMID: 2297881
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2015.45.2.141

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
To investigate age-specific and sex-specific distributions of blood cholesterol in the general Korean population.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
We analyzed data for 8284 men and 9246 women aged > or =10 years who participated in the fifth (2010-2012) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Age-specific means, medians, and selected percentiles were calculated for men, premenopausal women, and postmenopausal women.
RESULTS
Median total cholesterol (TC) level increased with age across all age groups, from 147 to 196 mg/dL in males and from 159 to 210 mg/dL in females. Triglyceride (TG) levels increased with age in females; however, in males, TG levels rapidly increased during young adulthood, peaked at 50-54 years, and then decreased. High density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were higher in females than in males and decreased with increasing age in both males and females. Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels increased with age across all age groups, from 89 to 127 mg/dL in males and from 82 to 113 mg/dL in females. Lipoprotein-cholesterol fraction (TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C, non-HDL-C) levels increased with age in females, but increased more rapidly in males during young adulthood and decreased after middle age.
CONCLUSION
Blood cholesterol levels and lipoprotein-cholesterol fractions present different distributions by age, sex, and menopausal status.

Keyword

Cholesterol; Triglycerides; High density lipoprotein-cholesterol; Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol; Epidemiology

MeSH Terms

Cholesterol*
Epidemiology
Female
Humans
Korea
Male
Middle Aged
Nutrition Surveys
Triglycerides
Cholesterol
Triglycerides

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Median values of total cholesterol for age, sex, and menopausal status.

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  Fig. 2 Median values of triglycerides for age, sex, and menopausal status.

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  Fig. 3 Median values of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol for age, sex, and menopausal status.

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  Fig. 4 Median values of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol for age, sex, and menopausal status.

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  Fig. 5 Median values of TC/HDL-C ratio for age, sex, and menopausal status. TC: total cholesterol, HDL-C: high density lipoprotein-cholesterol.

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  Fig. 6 Median values of LDL-C/HDL-C ratio for age, sex, and menopausal status. LDL-C: low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, HDL-C: high density lipoprotein-cholesterol.

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  Fig. 7 Median values of TG/HDL-C ratio for age, sex, and menopausal status. TG: triglycerides, HDL-C: high density lipoprotein-cholesterol.

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  Fig. 8 Median values of non-HDL-C for age, sex, and menopausal status. HDL-C: high density lipoprotein-cholesterol.

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