Prevalence and Risk Factors of Low High-Density Lipoproteins-Cholesterol: An Analysis of the United States of America National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2015-2016.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been the leading cause of mortality worldwide, with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) being the most predominant.1 This trend is not different from that observed in the United States.2,3 Despite overall reductions in deaths from CVDs over the past few decades, approximately 2,200 individuals in the United States (U.S.) die of CVDs each day. This represents a serious public health problem.
Cardiovascular disease risk factors are conditions that are associated with the early onset of the disease. Some of these risk factors are modifiable while others are not. Modifiable CVD risk
factors include smoking, dyslipidaemia, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, sedentarism, psychosocial stress. Age, sex, and heredity are not modifiable risk factors. Certain types of dyslipidaemia are
hereditary and may not be modifiable, for example, familial hypercholesterolemia. Some studies have shown that high-income persons have a lower cardiovascular risk as opposed to low-income
individuals. This shows that the socio-economic status plays a vital role in the development of CVDs. People suffering from food insecurity will be exposed to high energy foods and saturated fatty acid foods. Such food types are cheap and readily available. Among other factors, low educational level plays a role in the consumption of poor-quality foods.
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of low HDL-C and to investigate its associated risk factors. The prevalence of low HDL-C in our study was 22.4%. The results obtained
from the multiple linear regression indicated that male gender, age, ethnicity, country of birth, number of children aged 0-18-years per household, waist circumference, family income to poverty ratio and total cholesterol were significantly associated with HDL-C.
Public Health Open J. 2021; 6(1): 19-29. doi: 10.17140/PHOJ-6-155
