Lipid disorders among Black Africans non-users of lipid-lowering medication

ABSTRACT Objective: Angola is a sub-Saharan African country where the population has scarce access to lipidlowering medication. We sought to determine the frequency of lipid disorders among Angolan nonusers of lipid-lowering medication. Material and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in a sample of 604 workers from the public sector. Blood pressure and anthropometric data were measured along with biochemical parameters including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). LDL-C to HDL-C ratio (LDL-C/HDL-C) was obtained from LDL-C and HDL-C levels. Results: High frequencies of elevated blood pressure (44.8%), metabolic syndrome (20.2%), increased TC (39.2%) and increased LDL-C (19.3%) were found. Low HDL-C was more frequent in women (62.4% vs. 36.1%, p < 0.001). Isolated hypercholesterolemia was more frequent in men (9.6% vs. 2.5%, p < 0.001). Among men TC, TG, LDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were higher and HDL-C was lower in obese than in low-weight and normal-weight participants. Among women TC, TG, LDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were higher in obese than in normal-weight participants. Significant linear trend of increasing TC and LDL-C levels as age increased was detected for both genders (p for trend < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of our study showed a high frequency of lipid disorders in Angolan non-users of lipid-lowering medication.

Should body mass index be adjusted for relative sitting height in cross-sectional studies of chronic diseases in Japanese-Brazilians?

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo verificar o grau de concordância entre as classificações do estado nutricional segundo os valores do índice de massa corporal (IMC) e o IMC corrigido (IMCc). Utilizou-se dados de estudo transversal realizado entre nipo-brasileiros. Na análise estatística dos dados foram obtidas as prevalências de doenças crônicas, a estatística kappa e o coeficiente de correlação linear de Pearson. Observou-se que 5,9% dos nipo-brasileiros foram discordantes quanto às classificações pelo IMC e IMCc. O valor da estatística kappa ponderado (0,94; p = 0,000) indicou boa concordância entre as classificações. Prevalências semelhantes de doenças crônicas foram obtidas para os indivíduos com excesso de peso classificados segundo estes dois índices. Valores semelhantes para os coeficientes de correlação linear de Pearson foram obtidos entre esses índices e as medidas de circunferência de cintura e as medidas de gordura corporal. Estes resultados sugerem que, provavelmente, a correção do IMC pelo comprimento relativo do tronco seja desnecessária para esses indivíduos.