Anthropometric correlates of dyslipidaemia in various stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the major non-communicable diseases associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Even though COPD is a systemic disorder with the predominant involvement of lungs, several co-morbidities have been recognised in COPD. Both cachexia and obesity are common in COPD. This study explored the correlations between anthropometry and lipid parameters in different stages of COPD. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital included 120 subjects who satisfied the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria for COPD. After thorough clinical examination according to a predesigned study questionnaire all subjects underwent spirometric assessment for determination of the stage of COPD. Anthropometric measures like BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference and lipid parameters were measured in all study subjects. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to see the correlation between anthropometry and lipid profile. Results: Dyslipidaemia was seen in all stages of COPD even though the pattern of dyslipidaemia varied from stage to stage. Significant positive correlations were observed between anthropometry and lipid parameters in stages III and IV COPD. Conclusions: The observations made in this study reveal that anthropometry correlates with dyslipidaemia in late stages of COPD.

Keywords

• anthropometry
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease stages
• dyslipidaemia