Risk analysis of coronary heart diseases in Korean adults by using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III.

The National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III), updated in 2001, quantified the risk factors and made it possible to assess risks for metabolic syndrome (MS) and coronary heart diseases (CHD). Many reported the prevalence of MS by NCEP ATP III in Orientals but few did risk analysis of CHD. We investigated the risk of CHD in Korean adults and the distribution of population for therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) and drug therapy according to the NCEP ATP III guidelines. Based on ATP III risk factors, estimates of the 10-year risk for CHD on 16,383 Koreans and the distributions of population for the TLC and additional drug therapy by sex and age were calculated. High-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups were 8.1%, 24.1%, and 67.8%, respectively; 12.1% (high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups: 32.0%, 45.1%, and 6.0%, respectively) needed TLC and 6.1% (high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups: 39.4%, 16.6%, and 1.3%, respectively) needed additional drug therapy. The groups with higher risk needed more TLC and drug therapy. In the same age group, the rates of high risk in men showed a 1.0-6.6 fold increase compared with those in women. In Koreans, those who needed TLC and drug therapy were substantially lower than those in Americans.