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Feb 27, 2014Article Details
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Main Article Content
Cardiometabolic markers to identify cardiovascular disease risk in HIV-infected black South Africans
Abstract
Objective. This study proposes a screening discriminant model to identify the most important risk factors for the development of CVD in a cohort of 140 HIV-infected black Africans from the North West Province, SA.
Methods. Anthropometric measures, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and the carotid-dorsalis pedis pulse wave velocity were determined. Blood was analysed to determine the levels of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides (TGs) and glucose. Partial least squares discriminant analysis was performed as a supervised pattern recognition method. Independent Student’s t-tests were further employed to compare the means of risk factors on interval scales; for comparison of categorical risk factors between groups, χ2 tests were used.
Results. A TG:HDL-C ratio ≥1.49, TC:HDL-C ratio ≥5.4 and an HDL-C level ≤0.76 mmol/l indicated CVD risk in this cohort of patients living with HIV.
Conclusion. The results have important health implications for black Africans living with HIV as these lipid levels may be a useful indicator of the risk for CVD.
