Prevalence and 5‑year incidence rate of dyslipidemia and its association with other coronary artery disease risk factors in Iran: Results of the Kerman coronary artery disease risk factors study (Phase 2)

Dyslipidemia (DL) is an important risk factor of coronary artery disease (CAD). We evaluated DL prevalence and its 5‑year incidence rate in southeastern Iran, to assess the severity and growth rate of this CAD risk factor in the region.

This study was a part of the Kerman CAD Risk Factors Study Phase 2 (2014–2018) among 9996 individuals aged 15–80 years, from whom 2820 individuals had also participated in Phase 1 (2009–2011). In mg/dl, cholesterol ≥240 and/ or low‑density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥160 and/or high‑density lipoprotein cholesterol <40 for men and <50 for women and/ or triglyceride >200 were defined as DL.

The lipid profile of 9911 persons was analyzed. Overall 19.6% had borderline cholesterol and 6.4% suffered from hypercholesterolemia. 56.6% of the population (62.5% of females vs. 48.5% of males) suffer from DL, from whom 73.4% were undiagnosed. Female gender, advanced age, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, and depression predicted DL in the study population. The prevalence of DL was significantly lower in Phase 2 (56.6%) compared to Phase 1 (81.4%). The prevalence of undiagnosed DL (UDL) and diagnosed DL (DDL) was 40.7% and 16.2%, respectively. The 5‑year incidence rate of DL was 2.58 persons/100 person‑years (3.24 in females vs. 2.20 in males).

Although there were promising signs of a reduction in DL and increase in DDL in the last 5 years, a high percentage of the population have DL yet, from whom mostly are undiagnosed. DL was significantly associated with other CAD risk factors. Therefore, the health‑care management system should improve its strategies to reduce the health burden of DL.