Screening for dyslipdemia among Saudi adults attending a primary health care in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of dyslipidemia and to identify its association with obesity among Saudi adults attending a primary health care center in Abha City, Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: This study followed a cross-sectional study design. A consecutive sample was applied to screen 457 apparently healthy Saudi adults aged above 20 years. Participants’ weight and height were assessed and their body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Results: Regarding dyslipidemia, 17.3% had hypercholesterolemia, 5% had hypertriglyceridemia, 47.9% had low HDL-C serum levels, 17.9% had high LDL-C serum levels, 12.3% had TC/HDL-C ratio >6, 30.9% had TG/HDL-C ratio >3.8 and 23.2% had LDL-C/HDL-C ratio >3.3. Male participants had significantly higher proportions of hypercholesterolemia, high LDL-C and TC/HDL-C ratio than females (20.9% and 10.9%, respectively, p=0.007 for hypercholesterolemia; 20.9%; and 12.7%, respectively, p=0.029 for high LDL-C and 15.8% and 6.1%, respectively, p=0.002 for TC/HDL-C). LDL-C serum levels were lowest among elderly participants and highest among youngest participants (p=0.007). Hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, LDL-C, TC/HDL-C ratio, TG/HDL-C ratio and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were highest among obese and overweight participants (29.1% and 14.2%, respectively, p