Prevalence of and contributing factors to dyslipidaemia in low-income women aged 18-90 years in the peri-urban Vaal region

Abstract

Objective: Determining the prevalence of dyslipidaemia and examining dietary and other contributing factors, namely hypertension, overweight and obesity, as well as abnormal blood lipid levels in women aged 18-90 years.
Design: Cross-sectional baseline survey study.
Setting: Peri-urban Vaal region.
Subjects: Seven hundred and twenty-two randomly selected black women in four purposively selected settlements in the Vaal region.
Outcome measures: Measurements included dietary intake (24-hour recall), anthropometric (weight and height), and blood pressure and biochemical indices (lipid profile) with venous blood samples. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, t-tests and regression analyses.
Results: A large percentage (34.3%) of the women (aged 18-90 years old) was dyslipidaemic. The majority of women in the nondyslipidaemic group were overweight (52.6%). 86.2% of the women in the dyslipidaemic group were obese. The total fat intake was 20% of total energy intake in both groups. No significant differences were observed between the dietary fat intake variables between the groups. Body mass index (BMI) (ß = 0.554, p-value = 0.000), age (ß = 0.419, p-value = 0.000), education (ß = 0.250, p-value = 0.000), total energy intake (ß = 0.105, p-value = 0.006) and total fat intake (ß = 0.092, p-value = 0.018) were predictors of dyslipidaemia in these women.
Conclusion: Dyslipidaemia was prevalent. High triglyceride and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were the most frequent abnormalities. Although positive associations existed between the  prevalence of dyslipidaemia and the known risk factors of cardiovascular disease, such as ageing, hypertension, obesity and an abnormal lipid profile; BMI, age and education were the main predictors of dyslipidaemia.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, women, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, dietary fat intake