Lipid profile cutoff values for predicting hypertension in an Iranian population (ROC curve analysis).

BACKGROUND

Hypertension is a common condition that affects many people in the world. Although several risk factors for the development of hypertension have been identified, its etiology is still not fully understood. In this study the prevalence of dyslipidemia in a hypertensive and a control group was compared and the cutoff points of the lipid profile to predict hypertension were determined.

MATERIAL/METHOD: In this cross-sectional population-based study, the lipid profiles of 250 people who had hypertension were compared with those of 750 healthy subjects (control group). Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the optimal cutoff values.

RESULTS

There were significant differences in mean TC, TG, and LDL-C between the hypertensive and control groups (p<0.001). ROC curves for predicting hypertension were plotted and the best cutoff values were 185 mg/dl for TC, 125 mg/dl for TG, 110 mg/dl for LDL-C, and 45 mg/dl for HDL-C.

CONCLUSION

The significantly higher prevalence of dyslipidemia in hypertensive patients may necessitate special attention to its detection and treatment. Also, plasma lipid cutoff points in hypertension seem to be different from ATP III cutoff points (for a patient with a 2+ risk factor). Further studies are needed to confirm standard values of the lipid profile as a predictive factor in hypertensive patients.