OBJECTIVES: To assess burden of hyperlipidemia and associated treatment patterns among five European nations. METHODS: European Healthcare Panel of over 160,000 individuals in France, Germany, Italy, UK and the Netherlands were surveyed in 2007 to assess disease burden at national level, to build an epidemiological database in these 5 countries. The data is representative of population gender and age (18-24,25-34,35-44,45-54,55-64,65-69yrs) strata in respective countries, ensured by sampling and intensive panel management. The survey collected information on select health conditions (incl. hyperlipidemia, in terms of high cholesterol; in the past 12-months), quality of life and healthcare-utilization. RESULTS: Prevalence of Hyperlipidemia varied widely between the 5 nations, as follows: Italy: 10.7%, the Netherlands: 11.2%, U.K: 12.4%, France: 14.8%, Germany: 15.5%. Within each country, burden of hyperlipidemia varied by age and gender; distribution among male (18-24,25-34,35-44,45-54,55-64,65+yrs: % pts) was: Italy: 1.9%,3.1%,8.4%,15.0%,18.2%,23.3; the Netherland: 0.6%,3.4%,5.9%,17.2%,25.6,24.6; U.K: 1.6%,3.5%,9.0%,18.1%,28.7%,30.8; France: 1.9%,5.8%,13.4%,22.7%,29.4%,28.2%; Germany: 2.3%,5.2%,13.1%,23.1%,27.9%,31.3%; distribution among female (18-24,25-34,35-44,45-54,55-64,65+yrs: % pts) was: Italy: 2.4%,4.3%,6.6%,12.4%,15.9%,30.3%; the Netherlands: 2.0%,2.6%,4.4%,12.2%,22.6%,30.4%; U.K: 1.2%,1.9%,4.8%,12.7%,23.7%,30.7%; France: 8.2%,7.6%,9.2%,15.1%,23.5%,29.0%; Germany: 3.3%,5.8%,8.2%,16.5%,26.0%,31.1%. Point of diagnosis varied across the countries: Italy: GP-52.7%,Specialist:20.3%,Hospital:22.8%,Not-Medically-Diagnosed:4.2%; Netherlands: GP-57.9%,Specialist:22.9%,Hospital:13.71%,Not-Medically-Diagnosed:5.4%; Germany: GP-76.1%,Specialist:16.0%,Hospital:5.3%,Not-Medically-Diagnosed:2.6%; U.K: GP-79.0%,Specialist:6.6%,Hospital:11.4%,Not-Medically-Diagnosed:3.0%; France: GP-83.3%,Specialist:9.2%,Hospital:5.0%,Not-Medically-Diagnosed:2.6%. Majority were treated by their GPs (range: 47.6% (Italy) to 72.4% (U.K)), followed by Specialists (range: 3.6% (U.K) to 20.1% (the Netherlands)). Being currently not medically treated was reported by 15.0%,15.7%,19.7%,20.0%,25.7% of individuals in Italy/U.K/France/the Netherlands/Germany respectively. Use of prescription medications predominated, while prescription cost-reimbursement varied in the following order: fully-recompensated (range: 18.3% (Germany) to 69.9% (UK)), with-co-payment (range: 0.0% (UK) to 27.3% (Germany)) and complete-Out-of-Pocket (range: 0.0% (UK) to 12.1% (France)). OTC product use very low (range: 0.8% (France) to 3.1% (Italy)). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperlipidemia disease burden appear to be substantial and increased with age. Treatment patterns and prescription cost reimbursement scenarios were diverse across the five European nations, with a sizable proportion remaining medically untreated.