Low cholesterol levels are associated with death in patients admitted to hospital

This study was published in the Clinical Investigator 1994 Dec;72(12):939-43

Study title and authors:

The prognostic value of hypocholesterolemia in hospitalized patients.

Windler E, Ewers-Grabow U, Thiery J, Walli A, Seidel D, Greten H.

Medizinische Kernklinik und Poliklinik, Universität-Krankenhaus Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7711423

The study examined the relationship between cholesterol levels and death rates in patients admitted to hospital. The study included 85,463 patients and 6,543 healthy control subjects.

The study found:
(a) The average cholesterol levels of patients who died, 163 mg/dL (4.2 mmol/L), was significantly lower than that of those who survived 217.8 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L).
(b) The average cholesterol of surviving patients was similar to that of the 6,543 healthy control subjects.
(c) The death rates of patients with cholesterol levels below 100 mg/dL (2.5 mmol/L) was about tenfold higher than average.
(d) Patients whose cholesterol levels were under 45 mg/dL (1.1 mmol/L) did not survive.

The results of the study show that high cholesterol levels are associated with survival and low cholesterol levels are associated with death in patients admitted to hospital.