Abstract:
Abnormal lipid profile is considered as an important
contributor to cardiovascular diseases among South
Asians. Sri Lanka is a multiethnic South Asian nation
and differences in ethnicity may influence the pattern
of lipid profile.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the lipid levels of
healthy adults of a predominantly Sri Lankan Tamil
population in the Northern Sri Lanka and compare it
with the lipid levels of different ethnic groups reported
in the literature.
It was a cross-sectional analysis of secondary data of 500
healthy adults who were the controls of a larger study
on the lipid profile of diabetic and non-diabetic patients.
Cut-off values for desirable lipid levels used in this study
were determined according to national and international
guidelines. Chi-squared test, independent t-test/ Mann–
Whitney U-test and one-way analysis of variance were
used to determine the statistical significance and a
p-value <0.05 was considered significant.
The majority (61.4%) were women and the mean age
was 54.8±12.6 years. Mean lipid levels were within
normal range except HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) in
women (46.6± ±10.6 mg/dL). Desirable lipid levels
were observed in majority of the participants (58%-
80%) except HDL-C among women (32%). Half of
the study population had a desirable total cholesterol:
HDL-C ratio (50.8%). Significant difference between
men and women was observed for HDL-C (p<0.05). The HDL-C levels and total cholesterol: HDL-C ratio
of Jaffna population were comparable to those of
South Asian populations. Further studies are needed to
determine the clinical implication of these observations.
