The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and associated risk factors in Al-Kharj population, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background Hypercholesterolemia (HC) is an important precursor to many cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular diseases. A report conducted by the American Heart Association showed the prevalence of HC to be 11.9%, with around 28.5 million adults age ≥ 20 years having high cholesterol levels. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HC and its associated risk factors among the general population of Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted on the general population of Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia in 2016. The representative sample consisted of 1019 individuals, who all participated on a voluntary basis. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25. Results The results of this study showed the prevalence of HC in the sample to be 12.5%. There was a significant moderate positive association between increasing age and the prevalence of HC (r = 0.240, P < 0.0001). Males had a significantly higher prevalence of HC (56.7%) compared to their female counterparts (43.3%) (X2 = 23.093, P ≤ 0.0001). BMI was positively and significantly associated with high cholesterol status. Participants in the overweight category had a significantly higher risk of HC (OR = 1.727; 95% CI = 1.58–1.914; P = 0.046). The non-obese (< 25 kg/m2) participants had an inverse significant association with the risk of hypercholesterolemia. (OR = 0.411; 95% CI = 0.216–0.783; P = 0.007). Conclusion In this population-based study, the predominant risk factors of HC in Al-Kharj region were being of a Saudi nationality, male, having obesity, being unemployed, and being a civilian worker. There is a clear need for future screening studies of HC, as most previous studies have reported contradictory prevalence data (because they were conducted in different regions of KSA). Furthermore, well-designed prospective cohort studies are needed in the future to assess how the association between lifestyle behavioural factors such as dietary intake patterns and levels of physical activity may affect the relative risk of HC status.

Dyslipidemia Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and Its Associated Factors in Saudi Arabia: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

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Prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia among Royal Thai Army personnel and its related cardiometabolic risk factors, from 2017 to 2021

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Phyto-Enrichment of Yogurt to Control Hypercholesterolemia: A Functional Approach

“…To date, different data-based studies were performed on the Indian population, including the India Migration Study ( n = 1983), India Heart Watch ( n = 6123), Indian Industrial Population Surveillance Study ( n = 10,442), Indian Women Health Study ( n = 4624), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (urban n = 15,223, slum/periurbann = 15,751, rural n = 13,517), a nationwide industry-sponsored FitHeart Study ( n = 46,919) and the INDIAB study ( n = 2042) [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Among those, Al-Kharj of Saudi Arabia showed a positive association between the prevalence of HC and increasing age in the general population [ 43 ]. Another study reported that overweight participants have a higher risk of suffering from HC.…”