OBJECTIVETo assess the current status in dietary treatment of hypercholesterolemia and its effects on control of this disease in China.

METHODSTwenty five Tertiary-A hospitals from 12 provinces in China were selected, in which 2136 patients were recruited who had had hypercholesterolemia and had been receiving lipid lowering treatment for at least 2 months. Serum lipids level was determined for each patient at the time of enrollment, and using a simplified food frequency method carried out dietary intake survey. Patients who take meat of less than 75 g per day and eggs of less than 5 per week, and fried foods of less than 5 times per week, and butter cakes and pastry of less than 5 times per week were considered as having their diet controlled.

RESULTSAmong 1746 responded patients, 68.3% reported having controlled diet. Among those reported "controlled", 75% had a diet meeting the requirements suggested by the Chinese Recommendations on Prevention and Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia (CRPTH). The percentage of patients having their serum total cholesterol under control in diet controlled group, according to the CRPTH, was significantly higher than that in diet uncontrolled group (28.8% vs 13.6%, P < 0.01). After adjustment for drug treatment and other covariates, the diet controlled group showed a significantly higher rate in control of hypercholesterolemia than the diet uncontrolled group (OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4 approximately 5.2).

CONCLUSIONDiet control significantly improves the status in control of hypercholesterolemia and thus should be reinforced in routine clinical practice.