Abstract

Background: Cholesterol is one of the body substances presents in the blood and important for the health. When the level of cholesterol exceeds the normal, it is called hypercholesterolemia and usually accompanied by high risk of developing coronary heart disease, strokes, and other health problems. Efforts were paid in the developed countries to control and prevent this problem and accordingly age-adjusted mortality from coronary artery disease (CAD) is gradually falling, but it is still high in developing countries, and in the future probably become the most important health problem.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of hypercholesterolemia among Saudi adults visiting Al Majmaah primary health care centers.

Methodology: The study was cross-sectional. The sample size was collected as 353. The data was collected by a structured, pre-coded and pre-tested questionnaire. In addition, we measured height and weight to calculate the body mass index. The total serum cholesterol level was measured for all participants.

Results: The overall prevalence of hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol more than 200 mg/dl) was 45.3%. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia increased with age reaching a maximum at the fifth decade. The logistic regression results concluded that, marital status (married patients) had significant relation (p = 0.007) and had the main effect on hypercholesterolemia among Saudi Adults in Majmaah.

Conclusion: The study concluded that hypercholesterolemia prevalence among Saudi adults is high. The disease is associated with marital status; divorces and widowed showed high prevalence of the disease.

Key words: Hypercholesterolemia, Al Majmaah, Saudi adults