P S C secretariat

Correspondence to: P S C secretariat, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; psc@ctsu.ox.ac.uk

QUESTION

What is the relation between blood cholesterol concentrations and vascular mortality?

REVIEW SCOPE

Studies selected evaluated blood pressure (BP), blood cholesterol, age, and sex at baseline and cause and date of death at follow-up, and had >5000 person-years of follow-up. Studies of patients with a history of stroke or heart disease were excluded. Outcome was vascular death (ischaemic heart disease [IHD], stroke, and other).

REVIEW METHODS

Medline, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, and meeting abstracts were searched for prospective cohort studies, and study investigators were contacted. 61 studies (n = 892 337, mean follow-up 13 y) were included. Analyses used individual patient data and were adjusted for patient age and sex and study; patients with a history of stroke or heart disease at baseline were excluded, and those …