Attendance patterns and characteristics of participants in public cholesterol screening.

We conducted free, voluntary, public cholesterol screenings in supermarkets in the Rochester, New York, area during a four-month period for demonstration and research purposes. We assessed demographic characteristics and attendance patterns of the 8,583 participants. Compared with 1980 census data for the same census tracts, our participants were likelier to be white, older, female, and better educated than the general population in the area. Most screenees knew about the screenings in advance, and 79% came to the store just for screening. Weekend and weeknight screenings attracted more men and more younger people, in comparison to weekday screenings. However, referral rates based on high cholesterol (HC) test results were similar during all screening times. Overall, 22% of screenees reported a previous diagnosis of HC, but in the highest cholesterol-level group, 45% of screenees reported a history of HC. Previous awareness of HC did not vary according to screening time. These findings indicate that, like other screenings, cholesterol screenings in a public setting do not attract a representative sample of the whole population. The screenings did, however, attract a large number of high-risk individuals, many of whom had no prior awareness of HC. These results should be valuable in planning and targeting future cholesterol screenings.