Screening and socioeconomic associations of dyslipidemia in young adults

• Published in: BMC public health 2020-01, Vol.20 (1), p.104-104, Article 104
• Main Authors: Hudson, Stephen E, Feigenbaum, Matthew S, Patil, Nirav, Ding, Elan, Ewing, Alex, Trilk, Jennifer L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; African Americans; Age; Algorithms; Associations; Atherosclerosis; Athletes; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Child development; Child health; Cholesterol; College enrollment; College students; Colleges & universities; Confidence intervals; Demographic aspects; Demographic variables; Demographics; Diagnosis; Diseases; Dyslipidemia; Dyslipidemias; Dyslipidemias - diagnosis; Dyslipidemias - epidemiology; Economic aspects; Education; Ethnicity; Female; Gender; Health aspects; Health sciences; Health screening; Health Status Disparities; Health surveys; Heart diseases; High density lipoprotein; Housing; Humans; Hyperlipidemia; Hypertriglyceridemia; Liberal arts; Lipid; Lipids; Lipids - blood; Lipoproteins; Lipoproteins (very low density); Low density lipoprotein; Low density lipoproteins; Male; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Medical research; Metabolic disorders; Minority & ethnic groups; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Obesity; Parameters; Pediatrics; Prevention; Public health; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Rural housing; Screening; Social class; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic status; Socioeconomics; Statistical analysis; Students; Teenagers; Triglycerides; United States - epidemiology; University students; Variance analysis; Wellness; White people; Young Adult; Young adults; Youth
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-8099-9

The Southern region of the United States is home to substantial populations with obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, while also housing a large percentage of America's minority, rural, and low socioeconomic status (SES) peoples. Adult-onset cardiovascular disease (CVD) research may be informed by investigating associations(s) between late adolescent demographic variables and lipid values. Our objective was to investigate lipid parameter associations with college-age socioeconomic status, which may improve age-specific screening algorithms for management or prevention of adult-onset CVD. Using an Analysis of Variance test and a general linear model, associations between gender, race/ethnicity, SES, and athletic participation on lipid parameters (VLDL-C, LDL-C, TG, TC, and HDL-C) were analyzed in 4423 private liberal arts college students enrolled in freshman-level wellness courses at Furman University in Greenville, SC. Comparative data were collected from an age-matched sample (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: NHANES 2003-2016). Our main outcomes were statistically significant relationships between any lipid values (TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, TG) and any demographic variables (gender, SES, ethnicity, athlete status). Males demonstrated lower TC and LDL-C, and higher HDL-C values. HDL-C was highest in athletes. African-American students demonstrated healthier VLDL-C, TG, and HDL-C values. With similar distributions, the age-matched NHANES comparison group showed unhealthier values in nearly all categories. College students may have better lipid health than the general population. African-Americans may have seemingly healthier lipid values than age-matched individuals independent of athletic or college enrollment which has already been demonstrated in other studies. Future research should include SES relationships in lipid screening paradigms along with other appropriate risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Based on our comparative data, pediatric health providers and researchers may consider education as a potential protective factor against poor lipid health when considering lipid screening protocols for students.