TITLE:
Lipid Levels and Disorders in Hospital Attendants in Banjul, The Gambia
AUTHORS:
Bernard C. Nkum, Frank B. Micah, Theophilus C. Ankrah, Ousman A. Nyan
KEYWORDS:
Lipids, Lipid Disorders, Atherogenic Dyslipidaemia, Systemic Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.3 No.3,
March
7,
2016
ABSTRACT: Background: One of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is
lipid abnormalities. Objective: To determine the mean lipid levels and the
prevalence of lipid disorders among patients attending outpatient clinics in
Banjul, The Gambia. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Out-patient clinics of Royal Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital
and Medical Research Council Laboratories in Banjul, The Gambia. Methods: Two
hundred and eight consecutive patients with systemic hypertension on
treatment and 108 non-hypertensive patients aged over 25 years were enrolled. A
questionnaire was filled and anthropometric measurements were taken. An oral
glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was done as well as blood investigations
including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL)
and triglycerides (TG). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) was
calculated using the Friedwald formula. There were 305 participants with
complete lipid results and these were included in the analysis. Results: The
mean (standard deviation) TC was 4.92 (1.78) mmol/L; mean TG was 0.94 (0.56) mmol/L; mean HDL was 1.28 (0.48) mmol/L and mean LDL was 3.20 (1.41) mmol/L. The prevalence of lipid abnormalities was 41% for high TC, 9% for high TG, 36% for low HDL, 49% for high LDL and 6% for atherogenic dyslipidaemia. Conclusion: The mean lipid level and the prevalence of lipid disorders
in patients attending clinics in Banjul were high.