Lipid disorders and their changes in postsocialist Estonia

Journal of Clinical and Basic Cardiology 1999; 2 (2): 249-253

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Keywords: Cholesterin,  Hyperlipidämie,  Lipide,  Prävalenz,  trend,  Triglyzeride,  Voraussagekraft,  cholesterol,  hyperlipidaemia,  lipids,  predicting power,  prevalence,  trend,  triglyceride

The aim of the study was to investigate the time trends of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (Tg) concentration in blood plasma in inhabitants of Tallinn and to assess the predictive power of these lipids for mortality. Two independent random samples of the population of Tallinn aged 30 to 54 were examined in 1984-1987 and in 1992-1994. TC and Tg were determined in 1747 men and 561 women at the first survey and 292 men and 162 women at the second survey. The lipid profile was assessed by the EAS classification of hyperlipidaemia. The proportion of individuals with normal lipid values (TC and Tg both below 200 mg/dl) increased from the I to the II survey (from 30.1 % to 38.2 % in men and from 28.6 % to 47.9 % in women). The percentage of men belonging to group A decreased from 40.0 to 30.7 % and of women from 44.1 to 34.0 %. The prevalence of most severe forms of hyperlipidaemia did not change significantly (group D + E was observed in 12.3 % of men at the I survey and in 9.7 % at the II survey; the corresponding figures for women were 8.8 % and 8.9 %). Between the I and II survey Tg mean values decreased in men aged 30 to 54 and TC mean values decreased in women of the same age-group. According to this study nearly 100,000 inhabitants of Estonia aged 20 to 70 need pharmacological treatment, more than 500.000 need nonpharmacological correction of hyperlipidaemia. By means of quantile analysis and Cox regression model TC was found predictive for coronary heart disease mortality. The significance of Tg for cardiovascular mortality disappeared in multivariate analysis. J Clin Basic Cardiol 1999; 2: 249-53.