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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Apr:391:117482.
doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2024.117482. Epub 2024 Feb 27.

Tracking of serum lipid levels from childhood to adulthood: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Oliver Stanesby  1 , Matthew K Armstrong  2 , Petr Otahal  3 , James P Goode  3 , Brooklyn J Fraser  4 , Kazuaki Negishi  5 , Tetsuhiro Kidokoro  6 , Tania Winzenberg  3 , Markus Juonala  7 , Feitong Wu  8 , Rebecca K Kelly  9 , Bo Xi  10 , Jorma S A Viikari  7 , Olli T Raitakari  11 , Stephen R Daniels  12 , Grant R Tomkinson  13 , Costan G Magnussen  14
Affiliations
Free article
Meta-Analysis

Tracking of serum lipid levels from childhood to adulthood: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Oliver Stanesby et al. Atherosclerosis. 2024 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

Background and aims: The utility of lipid screening in pediatric settings for preventing adult atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases partly depends on the lifelong tracking of lipid levels. This systematic review aimed to quantify the tracking of lipid levels from childhood and adolescence to adulthood.

Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar in March 2022. The protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; ID: CRD42020208859). We included cohort studies that measured tracking of lipids from childhood or adolescence (<18 years) to adulthood (≥18) with correlation or tracking coefficients. We estimated pooled correlation and tracking coefficients using random-effects meta-analysis. Risk of bias was assessed with a review-specific tool.

Results: Thirty-three studies of 19 cohorts (11,020 participants) were included. The degree of tracking from childhood and adolescence to adulthood differed among lipids. Tracking was observed for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (pooled r = 0.55-0.65), total cholesterol (pooled r = 0.51-0.65), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (pooled r = 0.46-0.57), and triglycerides (pooled r = 0.32-0.40). Only one study included tracking of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.42-0.59). Substantial heterogeneity was observed. Study risk of bias was moderate, mostly due to insufficient reporting and singular measurements at baseline and follow-up.

Conclusions: Early-life lipid measurements are important for predicting adult levels. However, further research is needed to understand the tracking of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and the stability of risk classification over time, which may further inform pediatric lipid screening and assessment strategies.

Keywords: Adolescent; Child; Cholesterol; Cohort studies; Lipids; Meta-analysis; Systematic review; Triglycerides.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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