Figure 1
Recruitment, participant and retention flow. People diagnosed with FH from January 1st 2007 to April 15th 2009, aged from 18 to 70 years, with a LDL-C level > 75th percentile (age and gender specific), with access to internet, sufficient fluency in Dutch and residency < 150 km radius from Amsterdam were considered as eligible for participation and recruited from the national cascade screening programme of the Foundation for the Identification of Persons with Inherited Hypercholesterolemia (StOEH). Invitation brochures were send to 986 people, of whom 321 (32%) responded and agreed to participate. An additional 23 participants were recruited through brochures that were distributed among family members of participants, meeting the same eligibility criteria. The recruitment period lasted 6 months and resulted in 340 participants. Three hundred and fifteen participants (93%) attended the baseline and follow-up measurements. Missing data on lipids (LDL-C, HDL-C, TC and triglycerides), systolic blood pressure, glucose, BMI and waist circumference were imputed using multiple imputations, allowing an intention-to-treat analysis based on 340 participants.