Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Mar;46(1):14-21.

Lipid disorders in hospital attendants in Kumasi, Ghana

F B Micah  1 , B C Nkum
Affiliations

Lipid disorders in hospital attendants in Kumasi, Ghana

F B Micah et al. Ghana Med J. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Lipid disorders are common worldwide and contribute to a significant proportion of the burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of lipid disorders among patients reporting at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Directorate of Medicine and Polyclinic outpatient clinics of KATH.

Participants: A total of 424 patients, 20 years and over reporting for the first time to KATH were recruited. 77 had neither diabetes mellitus (DM) nor systemic hypertension (HPT) (controls), 94 had only DM, 109 had only HPT and 144 had both.

Methods: A questionnaire was administered after informed consent. Anthropometric measurements were then taken and blood investigations including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and triglycerides (TG) were done. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) was calculated using the Friedwald formula. The atherogenic index or ratio was the ratio of TC to HDL.

Results: The prevalence of lipid abnormalities was 60% for high TC, 32% for high TG, 17% for low HDL and 61% for high LDL. The mean (± standard deviation) TC was 5.33 (± 1.31) mmol/L, mean TG was 1.52 (± 0.81) mmol/L, mean HDL was 1.65 (± 0.57) mmol/L and mean LDL was 3.42 (± 1.22) mmol/L. The mean atherogenic index was 3.40 and 9% of the participants had an atherogenic index more than or equal to 5.

Conclusion: The prevalence of lipid disorders was high in adult patients in Kumasi and there is the need to increase awareness, screening, detection, treatment and control of these disorders.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus; Lipid Disorders; Lipids; Systemic Hypertension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared

References

    1. Mackay J, Mensah GA. Atlas of heart dis eases and stroke. WHO; 2004. Sep,
    1. Dawber TR, Moore FE, Mann GV. Coronary heart disease in the Framingham study. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1957 Apr;47(4 Pt 2):4–24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carroll MD, Lacher DA, Sorlie PD, Cleeman I, Gordon DJ, et al. Trends in serum lipids and lipoproteins of adults, 1960–2002. JAMA. 2005 Oct 12;294(14):1773–1781. - PubMed
    1. Sempos C, Fulwood R, Haines C, Carroll M, Anda R, Williamson DF, et al. The prevalence of high blood cholesterol levels among adults in the United States. JAMA. 1989 Jul 7;262(1):45–52. - PubMed
    1. Ingelsson E, Massaro JM, Sutherland P, Jacques PF, Levy D, D′Agostino RB, et al. Contemporary trends in dyslipidemia in the Framingham Heart Study. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Feb 9;169(3):279–286. - PMC - PubMed