Prevalence of dyslipidaemia in apparently healthy professionals in Asaba, South South Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Hypercholesterolaemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) especially in industrialized societies. Coronary heart disease is becoming an increasing cause of death even in the developing world. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of dyslipidaemia in apparently healthy professionals in a developing economy. METHOD One hundred apparently healthy professionals were recruited from several professions by stratified random sampling. This population was believed to be at higher risk of dyslipidaemia considering their more likely "western diet" lifestyle. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and Triglycerides were determined using standard cholesterol LDL precipitating reagents/kits. RESULTS The mean age of the subjects was 41.59 +/- 8.22 years (range 29 to 58 years) with male to female ratio of 1:1.2. Mean total cholesterol was 180.69 +/- 36.248 mg/dl (4.67 +/- 0.94 mmol/L), LDL cholesterol 122.68 +/- 44.42 mg/dl (3.17 +/- 1.15 mmol/L), HDL-cholesterol 37.47 +/- 9.91 mg/dl (0.96 +/- 0.26 mmol/L) and Triglyceride 83.139 +/- 66.888 mg/dl (0.94 +/- 0.76 mmol/L). Using the Third Report of the NCEP Expert Panel on Detection. Evaluation and Treatment of high blood cholesterol in Adults (ATP III) definition and risk classification, 5% of the study population had hypercholesterolaemia, 23% elevated total serum cholesterol, 51% elevated LDL-cholesterol and 60% low HDL-cholesterol, with females recording better overall lipid profile. CONCLUSION Dyslipidaemia was highly prevalent in the population studied, with low HDL-cholesterol being the most frequent lipid abnormality. Dyslipidaemia is becoming a serious health problem in the developing world also, even among the apparently healthy, and necessitates periodic lipid profile screening.