nted information about cholesterol was mailed to these individuals. This group of individuals was designated as the education group. For the remaining 174 individuals, reports of the screening results were sent to their personal physicians. This group of individuals was designated as the usual care comparison, or control, group. The division of the sample was between the education and control groups was made primarily on the basis of the church of attendance, with individuals from three of the churches selected for participation in the education group, and with individuals from the remaining three churches designated as the comparison group.
Six months subsequent to the initial screening, the members of both groups were invited to return for followup screenings. In the education group, 130 (75 percent) of the individuals return for followup screening, while in the comparison group, only 62 (36 percent) returned for followup screening.
The change in continuous variables between the two groups of the sample was analyzed by the use of a two tailed t test procedure. Regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of cholesterol change. The study found that cholesterol levels were lowered by 10 percent among the individuals included in the education group. The study also found, however, that cholesterol levels were lowered by 16 percent among the individuals included in the comparison, or control, group. When the intervening variable of sex was considered, cholesterol levels among those individuals included in the education group were lowered by nine percent for females and by 11 percent for women. In the comparison group, however, cholesterol levels for women were lowered by 18 percent, while those for men were lowered by 12 percent. In the baseline measurements, 63.8 percent of the individuals included in the education group were female. In the followup measurements, however, the proportion of women dro...