A novel approach using an electronic medical record to identify children and adolescents at risk for dyslipidemia: A study from the Primary Care Education and Research Learning (PEARL) network

Purpose: We conducted a retrospective analysis to identify children and adolescents in the Primary Care Education and Research Learning practice-based research network (PBRN) who were at risk for dyslipidemia. Methods: Using coding data from an electronic medical record to identify all adults with an underlying diagnosis of hyperlipidemia enrolled to this PBRN, children at risk for dyslipidemia were identified. Results: Enrolled to this network were 189,282 patients, including 55,252 children aged 2 to 18 years. The prevalence of physician-coded hyperlipidemia in the adult population was 1.5%. Two percent of the children enrolled to this PBRN were at risk for dyslipidemia. Conclusion: Using technology within electronic medical records allowed for the identification of children at risk for dyslipidemia and to create clinical reminders that will allow us to improve the efficiency of screening efforts.