Prevalence of Dyslipidemia in Military Students and Military Personnel Attending Primary Care in Ecuador and Correlation with Anthropometric Values

Abstract

Objective: to establish the prevalence of dyslipidemia and its relationship with the body mass index, waist-height index and waist circumference in students of the higher technology specialization in military sciences, as well as military personnel who work at the University of the Armed Forces of Ecuador - ESPE. Methodology: this was an analytical, non-experimental study with a sample of 495 second-year students of the Superior Technology Specialization in Military Sciences and 196 military personnel who work at ESPE.Results: The study found 8,48 % (n: 42) prevalence of general dyslipidemia in students, differentiated by hypercholesterolemia 1,82 % (n: 9), hypertriglyceridemia 6,26 % (n: 31) and mixed dyslipidemia 0,4 % (n: 2). Additionally, it found 58,67 % (n: 115) prevalence of general dyslipidemia in professional military personnel, with hypercholesterolemia 9,18 % (n: 18), hypertriglyceridemia 25,51 % (n: 50) and mixed dyslipidemia 23,98 % (n: 47). Finally, the lower limit to diagnose dyslipidemia for body mass index in students was 25,67 kg/m2, for waist circumference 76,5 cm and for waist height ratio 0,47, and in professional military personnel, body mass index of 26,3 kg/m2, waist circumference of 86 cm and waist height ratio of 0,52. Conclusions: the students and military personnel studied have a significantly low prevalence of dyslipidemia compared to the general student and military personnel population and the values of WC and WHtR were seen to be good predictors of dyslipidemia in military personnel but not in the students.