Lipid Levels and Disorders in Hospital Attendants in Banjul, The Gambia

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: Outpatient 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.