Abstract

Chronic disease is one of the most prevalent health issues that affects a person's quality of life and is a serious problem that may affect the peoples around the world. In Saudi Arabia, the disease pattern has shifted from communicable to chronic disease in recent times. This study investigates the effect of geographical/environmental factors on the lipid profiles and their associations with blood pressure (BP) and HbA1c in the Saudi population residing at lowlands and highlands, respectively. Archived clinical data from the different commercial laboratories were screened for 18 months in Jeddah (lowland) and Asir (highland) regions of Saudi Arabia. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistics for the window. Small but significantly high blood pressure was observed in the study population from the Asir region compared to those from the Jeddah region (p<0.05). Prevalence of dyslipidemia was significantly high in the prediabetes and diabetes group of population (p<0.05) from the Jeddah region (p<0.05). Overall, prediabetes and diabetes were detected in 31.2% (2243) and 23.6% (1697). There were 12.3% prediabetic and 11.3% diabetic from the Asir region and 18.9% prediabetic and 12.2% diabetic from the Jeddah region (p<0.05). The clinical assessment of biochemical data revealed that the high prevalence of dyslipidemia is associated with prediabetes and diabetes in the Jeddah region (lowland). Furthermore, regression analysis suggested that dyslipidemia was associated with increased risk of prediabetes (OR, 95%CI=1.205, 1.068-1.359) and diabetes (OR, 95%CI= 1.93, 0.807-2.055). Furthermore, high blood pressure was associated with the population living at high altitudes.

Key words: Pre-diabetes, diabetes, dyslipidemia, highland, lowland, geographical/environmental effects.