Description
All children at the age of 11 and 17 years are invited by their primary care paediatricians for total cholesterol measurement from venous blood based on the Methodological Instruction of the Ministry of Health 13,010/2004. A threshold level of 188 mg/dL (4.85 mmol/L) is used to stratify care for hypercholesterolemic children. Children with a TC level of 188-209 mg/dL (4.8-5.2 mmol/L) with a negative family history are followed up by a paediatrician. High-risk children and adolescents (those with ≥1 cardiovascular risk factor) are referred to the second level of care (specialists- pediatric cardiologist or endocrinologist) or, if familial hyperlipoproteinemia is suspected, directly to the third level (specialists in the treatment of metabolic disorders in children)Program launch date
National paediatric cholesterol screening (at 11 and 17 years) was initiated in 2004.Responsible entity
National Health SystemAvailable results and quality metrics
Exact data are not available. The Slovak National Health Information Center has reported that 94.1% of 6-14-year-old children and 71.7% of 15-18-year-old adolescents underwent a preventive examination during 2019-2020, screening for cholesterol being a part of this. High rate of participation of mainly 11-years old is therefore expected. Recently published observational study using data of 11-year- old children who underwent TC screening in 23 selected pediatric outpatient clinics between 2017 and 2018 showed 8.9% prevalence of genetically confirmed FH in subset of children with increased total cholesterol (Raslova K, et al. J Clin Lipidol. 2024; 18(4):e537-e547).Limitations / comments
Data on number of detected and treated children with hypercholesterolemia should be collected. Based on the data, cut-off values for cholesterol can be justified and referral system between primary paediatricians and specialists should be improved.