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Show Prevalence of Dyslipidemia and Related Risk Factors Among Adults in Armenia Hripsime Z. Wright, MD, MPH; Ketevan Amirkhanashvili MS2; Natalie Channel MS2; Marine G. Hovhannisyan, MD, MPH OBJECTIVE ● This study provides insight into the previously unreported prevalence of dyslipidemia in a region with high CVD mortality BACKGROUND ● Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, and over three quarters of these deaths occur in lowand middle- income countries ● Dyslipidemia is an asymptomatic condition that is an important predictor of CVD risk ● The current prevalence of deaths due to CVD in Armenia is estimated at 54%, but the current prevalence of dyslipidemia is unknown RESULTS ● Participants were between 17-89 years old, with a mean age of 51; 72% of the 145 respondents were female and 61% of respondents were living in rural areas (Table 1) ● Only 52.41% of the sample size had normal cholesterol levels while 26.21% and 21.38% had "borderline high" and "high" cholesterol levels respectively (Table 2) ● There was a significant difference between gender and high cholesterol (p=0.016066), between cholesterol levels among individuals residing in urban and rural areas (p=0.031189), as well as between BMI and high cholesterol (p=0.021) ● No association was found among smoking habits and cholesterol levels Figure 3: Prevalence of Cholesterol Levels Table 1: Demographics of Sample Population Table 2 : Prevalence of Dyslipidemia Gender Region Number % Female 104 72 Male 39 28 Urban 56 39 Rural 88 61 Cholesterol Level Frequency Percent Normal (<200 mg/dL) 76 52.41% Borderline (200-239 mg/dL) 38 26.21% High ( ≥240 mg/dL) 31 21.38% Total 145 100% KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Figure 1: Location of outreach events. ● More than 47% of the Armenian sample population had dyslipidemia ● These results suggest a need for widespread cholesterol screening and interventions to improve cardiovascular health in Armenia METHODS ● An IRB approved Population based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted ● The study population consisted of approximately 145 people who were attending outpatient clinics in Aragatsotn, Ararat, and Gegharkunik provinces (Figure 1) ● Standard descriptive statistical analyses was conducted, and associations among variables were explored using regression-based approaches for continuous variables and non-parametric techniques for categorical variables ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank our partners in Armenia, including the Armenian Ministry of Health, Dr. Marine Hovhannisyan, Yerevan State Medical University, and the Armenian interpreters. Figure 2: Cholesterol Levels by Gender and Region |
