Applicability of the National Cholesterol Education Program III (NCEP-III) Guidelines for treatment of dyslipidemia in a non-Caucasian population: A Mexican Nation-Wide Survey

we assessed the impact of the ncep-iii recommendations in a population-based, nation-wide mexican survey. information was obtained from 15,607 subjects aged 20 to 69 years. in this report, only samples obtained after a 9 to 12 hours fast are included (2,201 cases). a cardiovascular risk equivalent was found in 10.5% and > 2 risk factors were present in 41.7% of the population. in 10% of cases, the ldl-c concentration was high enough to be an indication for a lipid-lowering drug (> 160 mg/dl), independent of the presence of risk factors. a quarter of the population was eligible for some form of treatment (lifestyle modifications in 15.9%, drug therapy in an additional 11.7%). among cases with > 2 risk factors, a small percentage (1.8%) were identified as having a 10 year-risk > 20% and 86.3% were considered as having alo year-risk < 10%. the majority of the metabolic syndrome cases (84%) were identified as low-risk subjects. as a result, only 17.6% of them qualified for drug-based ldl-c lowering. our data helps to estimate of the magnitude of the burden imposed on the mexican health system, of lowering ldl-c for cardiovascular prevention. if we apply our results to the 2,000 mexican population census more than 5.8 million cases nationwide may require ldl lowering drug therapy following the ncep-iii criteria.