Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings April 2014, Volume 27, Number 2 | Page 32

Comparison of the frequency and level of serum total
cholesterol >300 mg/dL in patients at the same Texas
hospital in a single month in 1993 and in 2013
William C. Roberts, MD, Jong Mi Ko, BA, and Raul Benavides Jr., MD

The clinical pathology laboratory database of a large tertiary hospital
in Dallas, Texas, was searched for patients having a serum total
cholesterol >300 mg in a single month in 1993 and in 2013.
In September 1993, 63 patients had a serum total cholesterol
>300 mg/dL (range 302–1515 [mean 431, median 349]), and in
September 2013, 12 patients had serum total cholesterol levels
>300 mg/dL (range 303–442 [mean 334, median 316.5]), an 81%
decline in the numbers of patients and a 23% decline in the average
total cholesterol levels during the 20-year period.

number of patients whose serum total cholesterol was >300
mg/dL studied at the same hospital in September 2013 was
12 (an 81% reduction in the number of patients with these
levels); the levels ranged from 303 to 442 (mean 334, median
316.5) (a 23% reduction in the mean total cholesterol level);
the serum total cholesterol levels in the 9 women ranged
from 303 to 442 (mean 336), and in the 3 men from 306
to 363 (mean 327). The numbers of patients with serum
total cholesterol levels in May, June, and July 2013 were 9,
5, and 14, respectively.

METHODS
The database in the Division of Clinical Pathology was
searched for the number of patients with serum total cholesterol levels >300 mg/dL in September 1993 and in September 2013 . The ranges, means, and medians in the patients
with serum total cholesterol levels >300 mg/dL also were
acquired. In patients with >1 serum total cholesterol level,
the highest level was included in this analysis. Because the
number of patients in September 2013 was small, namely
12, we also examined three other months in 2013 (May,
June, and July).

DISCUSSION
The present study comparing numbers of patients
hospitalized at a single Texas hospital in September 1993
and in September 2013 with serum total cholesterol levels
>300 mg/dL disclosed that the numbers of such patients
had fallen 81% and that the average serum total cholesterol
level had fallen 23% during the 20-year period. The various
reasons for these falls are unclear, but the increased use of
statin drugs during the 20-year interval almost certainly
played a role (1).
The unique feature of the present study is the absence
of such a study previously at the same hospital over a long
interval. The number of licensed beds at BUMC in September 1993 was 1450, and in September 2013, 1000, a
32% reduction, but the average monthly admissions in 1993
was 2820 and in 2013, 2983, an average monthly increase
of 5%. Thus, despite an increase in monthly admissions
between September 1993 and September 2013, the number
of patients with serum total cholesterol levels >300 mg/dL
was much less (81% less).
The limitations of the present study include 1) lack of
information on the illnesses of the patients studied during the

RESULTS
The findings are summarized in the Figure. A total of 63
patients studied in September 1993 at BUMC had serum
total cholesterol levels >300 mg/dL; the levels ranged from
302 to 1515 (mean 431, median 349); the total cholesterol
levels in the 40 women ranged from 302 to 1348 (mean
416) and in the 23 men from 302 to 1515 (mean 456). The

From the Departments of Pathology and Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology,
and the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Baylor University Medical Center,
Dallas, Texas.
Corresponding author: William C. Roberts, MD, Baylor Heart and Vascular
Institute, 621 North Hall Street, Dallas, TX 75226 (e-mail: wc.roberts@
BaylorHealth.edu).

erum cholesterol levels have fallen in the USA in
recent decades (1). We determined the number of
patients hospitalized at Baylor University Medical
Center at Dallas (BUMC) with serum total cholesterol levels >300 mg/dL in September 1993 and in September 2013. We then compared the mean and median serum
total cholesterol levels in each of the 2 months 20 years
apart. Such a comparison to our knowledge has not been
performed previously.

S

106

Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) 2014;27(2):106–107