Reference intervals for fasting lipid profiles for the adult and geriatric population of Taita-taveta county, Kenya

Abstract

Fasting lipid profiles are affected by many factors including age, sex, geographical location, dietary habits (foods taken), life-style (sedentary or active, smoker or non-smoker, alcoholic or non-alcoholic), health status, environment, comprehensiveness of the selection criteria of the referent individual, socio-economic status of the referent individual, racial differences, genetics, and the method and reagents used to estimate the lipid profile analyte of interest. The aim of the study is therefore to establish age and sex specific fasting lipid profile reference interval limits for adults and geriatrics of Taita-Taveta County, Kenya and compare them with those previously reported in medical literature. This was a prospective cross-sectional study design involving 272 randomly sampled healthy adults and geriatrics consisting of 123 males and 148 females. The study followed CLSI EP28 A3c guidelines. Fasting blood samples were collected from 272 adults and geriatrics referent individuals from Taita-Taveta County, Kenya and analyzed using a Clinical Chemistry AutoAnalyzer (Integra 400) for total cholesterol (T-Chol), higher density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Chol), non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-Chol), triacylglycerols (TG), total cholesterol (T-Chol): high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol) ratio, triacylglycerols (TG): high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol) ratio, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Chol): high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol) ratio. Non-parametric analytical tools were used to establish the 2.5 percentile and 97.5 percentile reference interval based on gender and age. The established reference intervals for fasting lipid profiles were gender dependent for high density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol: high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and triacylglycerol (TG): high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol) ratio, gender independent for total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDH-Chol), triacylglycerols (TG), non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-Chol), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Chol): high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol) ratio and were different from those reported in medical literature. In conclusion, the established age and gender specific reference intervals for fasting lipid profiles for adults and geriatrics of Taita Taveta County, Kenya should be adopted for improved diagnostic interpretation and decision making by clinicians.