Abdominal obesity, blood glucose and apolipoprotein B levels are the best predictors of the incidence of hypercholesterolemia (2001–2006) among healthy adults: the ATTICA Study

Abstract

Abstract Objective In this work we evaluated the 5-year incidence of hypercholesterolemia, in a sample of cardiovascular disease free adult men and women from Greece. We also evaluated the association of several socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle habits on the incidence of this disorder. Methods 1514 men and 1528 women (>18 y) without any clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease, living in Attica area, Greece, were enrolled in the ATTICA study from May 2001 to December 2002. The sampling was random, multi-stage, and included information about various socio-demographic, lifestyle (diet, exercise, smoking etc), biological (lipids, and inflammatory markers), and clinical characteristics of the participants. In 2006, a group of experts performed the 5-year follow-up through telephone calls or personal visits (941 of the 3042 (31%) participants were lost to follow-up). Hypercholesterolemia, among people who had normal blood lipids at initial examination, was defined as fasting total cholesterol levels > 200 mg/dl or use of lipids lowering agents (NCEP ATPIII). Results The 5-year incidence of hypercholesterolemia was 23.7% (n = 127) in men and 17.7% (n = 110) in women (p for gender differences Conclusion Incidence of hypercholesterolemia was high in both genders, emphasizing the burden of this disorder at population level. Aging, increased waist circumference, fasting blood glucose and apolipoprotein B levels were the most significant baseline predictors of hypercholesterolemia.