Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars. 2018; 46(7): 556-574 | DOI: 10.5543/tkda.2018.23450

Data on prevalence of dyslipidemia and lipid values in Turkey: Systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies on cardiovascular risk factors

Meral Kayýkçýoðlu¹, Lale Tokgozoglu², Mustafa Kýlýçkap³, Hüseyin Göksülük³, Doruk Karaaslan⁴, Necla Özer², Adnan Abacý⁵, Mehmet Birhan Yýlmaz⁶, Cem Barçýn⁷, Kenan Ateþ⁸, Fahri Bayram⁹, Mahmut Þahin¹⁰, Dilek Ural^11
1Department of Cardiology, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Ýzmir, Turkey
²Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
³Department of Cardiology, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
⁴Koç University Faculty of Medicine, Ýstanbul
⁵Department of Cardiology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara
⁶Department of Cardiology, Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine, Sivas, Turkey
⁷Department of Cardiology, Gülhane Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
⁸Department of Nephrology, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
⁹Department of Internal Medicine, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey
¹⁰Department of Cardiology, Ondokuz Mayýs University Faculty of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey
¹¹Department of Cardiology, Koç University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

OBJECTIVE
Dyslipidemias, primarily hypercholesterolemia, are independent and strong predictors of cardiovascular (CV) events. The frequency of dyslipidemia is very important in terms of determining CV prevention policies. In order to determine the up-to-date frequency of CV risk factors in Turkey, a meta-analysis of the epidemiologic studies carried out in the last 15 years was performed. This article presents the results on the dyslipidemia data including hypercholesterolemia principally.

METHODS
Epidemiological studies conducted during the last 15 years and having the potential to represent the general population in Turkey were searched in databases (Ovid Medline, Web of Science Core Collection, and Turkish Academic Network and Information Center [ULAKBIM]) and web pages (Ministry of Health, Turkey Statistical Institute, Turkish Society of Cardiology, Nephrology and Endocrinology Associations). A total of 7 studies including lipid data were found. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the studies with low bias score were performed. Crude values of the prevalence of hypercholeterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL and mean lipid levels were calculated. Random effects model was used in meta-analysis.

RESULTS
The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia defined as a LDL-cholesterol >130 and/or ≥130 mg/dL, was 29.1% (95% CI 23.6–35.0) in the general population, 30.2% in females (%95 CI 24.7–36.1), and 27.8% in males (95% CI 22.3–33.6). The prevalence of low HDL-cholesterol (≤50 mg/dL for females and ≤40 mg/dL for males) was calculated as 46.1% (95% CI 42.4–49.9) in the whole group, 50.7% (95% CI 47.7–53.6) in females and 41.1% (95% CI 36.1–46.3) in males. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia (>150 mg/dL) was 36.5% (95% CI 30.6–42.5) in general, 32.0% (95% GA 26.6–37.8) in females and 41.3% (95% CI 34.9–47.8) in males.

CONCLUSION
Dyslipidemia constitutes a major public health problem in Turkey. In the adult population, almost 3 of 10 have hypercholesterolemia, one of 2 has a low HDL-cholesterol, and 1 of 3 has high triglycerides levels.

Keywords: Epidemiology, Hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia; meta-analysis; prevalence; Turkey.

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