Hypercholesterolemia and related risk factors in a cohort of patients with diabetes and hypertension in Maputo, Mozambique

INTRODUCTION: some studies reported that 25.5% of African population presents hypercholesterolemia; however, epidemiology of hypercholesterolemia in Africa is poorly described. Mozambique is experiencing a constant growth of non-communicable diseases, but scarce data are available about hypercholesterolemia. Our study aims at describing the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia in patients with diabetes and hypertension in Mozambique and investigate possible risk factors. METHODS: we conducted a cross-sectional study involving all the patients diagnosed with hypertension and/or diabetes from June 2018 to November 2020 in the Zimpeto DREAM Centre (Maputo, Mozambique). For each patient, anthropometric, clinical and laboratory data were collected. Hypercholesterolemia was defined as total blood cholesterol >200 mg/dL. Univariable and multivariable analysis were perfumed. RESULTS: a total of 885 patients were included, 76.2% (n=674) female. Hypertension alone was diagnosed in 670 (75.7%) patients, diabetes in 109 (12.3%) patients and 106 (11.9%) both diseases. Hypercholesterolemia was present in 410 (46.3%) patients and it was more prevalent in patients diagnosed with both diabetes and hypertension (52.8%), as compared to the patients diagnosed with hypertension (46.9%) or diabetes alone (36.7%). In the multivariable analysis, the only factors independently associated with hypercholesterolemia were female sex (aOR 1.77, 95% CI 1.26-2.48, p=0.001) and a body mass index >25kg/m(2) (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.11-2.04, p=0.008). CONCLUSION: our results highlight the need for a specific focus on female and obese/overweight patients, especially if diagnosed with both hypertension and diabetes, to promptly detect metabolic disorders and establish temporary preventive measures for cardiovascular events.