Prevalence of borderline elevated and elevated cholesterol among new adult patients from 23 hospitals in 12 cities of Jiangsu Province: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Objective To investigate the prevalence of borderline elevated total cholesterol (TC) and elevated cholesterol, and to examine TC levels across different population groups among new adult inpatients in Jiangsu Province. Methods A multi-center cluster sampling method was employed to randomly select 23 hospitals from 12 cities in Jiangsu Province between October 2020 and June 2021, with 200 patients randomly selected from each hospital. Serum TC concentrations were determined using the homogeneous method. Results A total of 4503 patients participated in the survey. The overall prevalence of borderline elevated TC and elevated cholesterol was 24.9%. The prevalence was 22.1% in males, significantly lower than the 28.7% observed in females. Age-specific prevalence followed an inverted U-shape, ranging from 11.2% (80–99 years) to a peak of 31.6% (45–49 years), with intermediate rates such as 15.7% (18–24) and 29.9% (60–64). Females and residents of Southern, Central, and Northern Jiangsu had respective risks 1.37, 1.57, 1.45, and 1.54 times higher for developing borderline elevated TC and elevated cholesterol. Patients with neurological and circulatory diseases had a 42% and 19% lower risk of developing borderline elevated TC and elevated cholesterol, respectively, with all P -values < 0.05. Conclusion The study found that among newly hospitalized adult patients in Jiangsu Province, the prevalence of borderline-high and high TC followed an inverted U-shaped pattern with age—rising at first and then falling—and was lower than the national levels reported. The prevalence of borderline-high and high TC was significantly associated with sex, region, and comorbid neurological and circulatory system diseases.