2023 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Cholesterol Awareness

Are you currently taking medicine prescribed by a doctor or other health professional for your cholesterol?*

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  Total
Respond.^		 Yes No
N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%)
TOTAL 3,625 1,088 25.8 23.9-27.8 2,537 74.2 72.2-76.1
GENDER
Male 1,558 493 28.6 25.6-31.8 1,065 71.4 68.2-74.4
Female 2,067 595 23.4 21.1-25.9 1,472 76.6 74.1-78.9
RACE/ETHNICITY
Non-Hispanic White 2,206 677 28.4 26.0-30.9 1,529 71.6 69.1-74.0
Non-Hispanic Black 628 197 28.6 24.2-33.5 431 71.4 66.5-75.8
Non-Hispanic Am Indian 321 *** *** *** *** *** ***
Non-Hispanic Other 133 24 10.0 5.3-17.9 109 90.0 82.1-94.7
Hispanic 286 42 10.0 6.9-14.2 244 90.0 85.8-93.1
AGE
18-34 571 12 1.8 0.9- 3.3 559 98.2 96.7-99.1
35-44 502 44 8.4 5.5-12.8 458 91.6 87.2-94.5
45-54 589 130 19.8 15.7-24.7 459 80.2 75.3-84.3
55-64 712 255 38.3 33.1-43.7 457 61.7 56.3-66.9
65-74 698 345 48.7 43.4-54.1 353 51.3 45.9-56.6
75+ 497 285 57.8 51.4-63.9 212 42.2 36.1-48.6
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 257 99 31.3 24.0-39.7 158 68.7 60.3-76.0
H.S. or G.E.D. 739 264 29.1 25.0-33.7 475 70.9 66.3-75.0
Some Post-H.S. 1,011 307 24.5 21.2-28.2 704 75.5 71.8-78.8
College Graduate 1,601 411 22.7 20.1-25.5 1,190 77.3 74.5-79.9
FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY
Yes 1,171 485 38.4 34.5-42.5 686 61.6 57.5-65.5
No 2,337 566 19.9 17.9-22.2 1,771 80.1 77.8-82.1
VETERAN STATUS
Veteran 460 191 39.5 33.4-45.9 269 60.5 54.1-66.6
Non-Veteran 3,151 892 24.0 22.0-26.0 2,259 76.0 74.0-78.0
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Employed or Self-Employed 1,887 324 15.6 13.5-17.9 1,563 84.4 82.1-86.5
Unemployed 152 38 17.3 11.3-25.6 114 82.7 74.4-88.7
Retired 1,094 559 50.5 46.0-55.0 535 49.5 45.0-54.0
Unable to Work 271 134 47.2 38.2-56.2 137 52.8 43.8-61.8
Other not in Labor Force 181 18 5.5 3.1- 9.4 163 94.5 90.6-96.9
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 174 67 31.5 23.4-40.8 107 68.5 59.2-76.6
$15,000- 24,999 243 90 31.4 23.0-41.3 153 68.6 58.7-77.0
$25,000- 34,999 329 126 31.6 24.7-39.4 203 68.4 60.6-75.3
$35,000- 49,999 431 134 29.5 23.7-36.0 297 70.5 64.0-76.3
$50,000-74,999 492 134 21.2 17.0-26.1 358 78.8 73.9-83.0
$75,000-100,000 397 118 25.3 20.0-31.6 279 74.7 68.4-80.0
$100,000-150,000 431 100 20.1 15.6-25.4 331 79.9 74.6-84.4
$150,000+ 395 75 20.1 15.3-25.9 320 79.9 74.1-84.7
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 733 244 27.9 23.7-32.7 489 72.1 67.3-76.3
POVERTY LEVEL1
Less than 50% 54 *** *** *** *** *** ***
50% to 100% 263 88 27.4 20.2-36.0 175 72.6 64.0-79.8
101% to 150% 215 58 15.4 9.8-23.3 157 84.6 76.7-90.2
151% to 200% 271 97 35.2 27.8-43.5 174 64.8 56.5-72.2
More than 200% 2,032 571 24.7 22.3-27.3 1,461 75.3 72.7-77.7
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 733 244 27.9 23.7-32.7 489 72.1 67.3-76.3
HOUSING
Own 2,511 838 28.8 26.5-31.4 1,673 71.2 68.6-73.5
Rent 864 180 17.1 14.0-20.8 684 82.9 79.2-86.0
Other arrangement 209 56 17.9 12.6-24.8 153 82.1 75.2-87.4
RURAL-URBAN RESIDENT2
Urban 1,078 248 20.3 17.5-23.5 830 79.7 76.5-82.5
Regional City or Suburban County 903 249 24.8 21.3-28.7 654 75.2 71.3-78.7
Rural 1,644 591 31.6 28.3-35.1 1,053 68.4 64.9-71.7
NC DEPT OF COMMERCE COUNTY TIER3
Most Distressed Counties (Tier 1) 1,167 409 31.0 27.0-35.2 758 69.0 64.8-73.0
Less Distressed Counties (Tier 2) 1,021 325 27.3 23.8-31.1 696 72.7 68.9-76.2
Least Distressed Counties (Tier 3) 1,437 354 22.1 19.5-25.0 1,083 77.9 75.0-80.5
CDC SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX4
1st Quartile - Least Vulnerable 1,126 310 24.3 21.2-27.7 816 75.7 72.3-78.8
2nd Quartile 950 259 23.4 20.1-27.0 691 76.6 73.0-79.9
3rd Quartile 903 251 25.6 22.0-29.6 652 74.4 70.4-78.0
4th Quartile - Most Vulnerable 646 268 40.1 33.2-47.3 378 59.9 52.7-66.8

Back to Cholesterol Awareness.

*Asked of respondents who report having had their cholesterol checked.
The results are not comparable to those from surveys conducted prior to 2020. Before 2020, this question was only asked of respondents who had a cholesterol test and were told their cholesterol levels were high. However, in the 2021 and 2023 versions, the question was asked of respondents who had a cholesterol test regardless of their cholesterol levels. As a result, the question was posed to many more respondents in 2021 and 2023, leading to a considerably smaller percentage reporting the use of cholesterol medication.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to changes in the weighting methodology and other factors, results from 2023 are NOT comparable to 2010
and earlier years.

***The estimate was suppressed because it did not meet statistical reliability standards. See BRFSS 2023 Annual Results Technical Notes for more details.

1Based on 2023 U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold incomes. Please see the BRFSS 2023 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

2Based on U.S Census Bureau population estimates at the county level. Please see the BRFSS 2023 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

3NC Dept. of Commerce County Tier Classification, based on respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2023 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

4Quartile of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index
(https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html) for respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2023 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

^Use caution in interpreting cell sizes less than 50, % = Percentage, C.I.(95%) = Confidence Interval (at 95 percent probability level).
Percentages are weighted to population characteristics and therefore cannot be calculated exactly from the numbers in this table.

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This page was generated on 06MAR25.

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