Lipid profile frequency and the prevalence of dyslipidaemia from biochemical tests at Saint Louis University Hospital in Senegal.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of lipid profile requests and the prevalence of dyslipidemia in patients at the biochemistry laboratory of St. Louis University Hospital, as well as their correlation with sex and age. METHODS: This was a retrospective study reviewing 14,116 laboratory results of patients of both sexes, over a period of six months (January-June 2013) regardless of the indication for the request. The lipid parameters included were: Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides with normal values defined as follows: Total cholesterol (<2g/l), HDL- cholesterol (>0,40g/l), LDL- cholesterol (<1,30g/l) and Triglycerides (<1,50g/l). RESULTS: The average age of our study population was 55.15 years with a female predorminance (M/F = 0.60). The age group most represented was that between 55-64 years. The frequency of lipid profile request in our sample was 9.41% (or 1,329). The overall prevalence of isolated hypercholesterolemia, hyperLDLaemia, hypoHDLaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, and mixed hyperlipidemia were respectively 60.91%, 66.27%, 26.58%, 4.57% and 2.75%. Hypercholesterolemia, hyperLDLaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia and mixed hyperlipidaemia were higher in women with respectively 66.22%, 67.98%, 4.58%, 2.89% than in men (52.01%, 62.81%, 4.44% and 2.40% respectively). On the other hand, the prevalence of hypoHDLaemia was higher in males (32.19%) compared to females (23.76%). Hypercholesterolemia correlated significantly with age and sex. CONCLUSION: Our study showed a relatively low request rate for lipid profile and a high prevalence of dyslipidaemia hence the importance of conducting a major study on the prevalence of dyslipidaemia and associated factors in the Senegalese population.

Dyslipidemia, obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors in the adult population in Senegal.

INTRODUCTION: According to the WHO, 50% of deaths worldwide (40.1% in developing countries) are due to chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Of these chronic NCDs, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death and disability in developed countries. The Framingham study has shown the importance of hypercholesterolemia as a primary risk factor. In Senegal, the epidemiology of dyslipidemia and obesity are still poorly understood due to the lack of comprehensive studies on their impact on the general population. This motivated this study to look into the key epidemiologic and socio-demographic determinants of these risk factors. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological survey which included 1037 individuals selected by cluster sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire following the WHO STEPwise approach. Socio-demographic, health and biomedical variables were collected. P value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The average age was 48 years with a female predominance (M: F of 0.6). The literacy rate was 65.2% and 44.7% of participants were from rural areas. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, hyperLDLemia, hypoHDLemia, hypertriglyceridemia and mixed hyperlipidemia were 56%, 22.5%, 12.4%, 7.11% and 1.9% respectively. One in four was obese (BMI> 30kg/m2) and 34.8% had abdominal obesity. The main factors significantly associated with dyslipidemia were obesity, urban dwelling, physical inactivity and a family history of dyslipidemia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dyslipidemia, obesity and other risk factors in the population was high needing immediate care for those affected and implementation of prevention strategies.