Time series decomposition into dyslipidemia prevalence among urban Chinese population: secular and seasonal trends

BACKGROUND: Previous epidemiological studies have indicated the seasonal variability of serum lipid levels. However, little research has explicitly examined the separate secular and seasonal trends of dyslipidemia. The present study aimed to identify secular and seasonal trends for the prevalence of dyslipidemia and the 4 clinical classifications among the urban Chinese population by time series decomposition. METHODS: A total of 306,335 participants with metabolic-related indicators from January 2011 to December 2017 were recruited based on routine health check-up systems. Multivariate direct standardization was used to eliminate uneven distributions of the age, sex, and BMI of participants over time. Seasonal and trend decomposition using LOESS (STL decomposition) was performed to break dyslipidemia prevalence down into trend component, seasonal component and remainder component. RESULTS: A total of 21.52 % of participants were diagnosed with dyslipidemia, and significant differences in dyslipidemia and the 4 clinical classifications were observed by sex (P <0.001). The secular trends of dyslipidemia prevalence fluctuated in 2011–2017 with the lowest point in September 2016. The dyslipidemia prevalence from January to March and May to July was higher than the annual average (λ = 1.00, 1.16, 1.06, 1.01, 1.02, 1.03), with the highest point in February. Different seasonal trends were observed among the 4 clinical classifications. Compared to females, a higher point was observed among males in February, which was similar to participants aged < 55 years (vs. ≥ 55 years) and participants with a BMI ≤ 23.9 (vs. BMI > 23.9). CONCLUSIONS: There were significant secular and seasonal features for dyslipidemia prevalence among the urban Chinese population. Different seasonal trends were found in the 4 clinical classifications of dyslipidemia. Precautionary measures should be implemented to control elevated dyslipidemia prevalence in specific seasons, especially in the winter and during traditional holidays. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12944-021-01541-6.