Abstract
                 Background: The prevalence of dyslipidemia is high and increasing in many developing countries, including Saudi Arabia  because of the westernization of diet and other lifestyle changes. Objective: To estimate the prevalence and to identify the associated factors of dyslipidemia among Saudi employees in  primary health care in Jeddah City. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among primary health care employees  in Jeddah. Seven primary health care centers were randomly selected. Sample of 461 Saudi employees’ medical files  were taken in to consideration. Their age ranged from 20 to 60 years. Data were collected over a period of 3 months from  June 2014 to August 2014. It included demographic characteristics of the patients’ height, weight, lipid profile results, and  blood glucose levels. Anthropometric measurements, including weight and height were obtained and body mass index  was calculated.  Result: This study included 461 employees; 145 (34.9%) men and 271(65.1%) women. The mean age was 38.1 ± 9.3 years.  The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 78%. The prevalence of high total cholesterol was 38.7% whereas those of high  low-density lipoprotein, low high-density lipoprotein, and high triglycerides were 43.5%, 45.2%, and 17.4%, respectively.   The prevalence of hypertension was 20% whereas those of prediabetes and diabetes were 18.6% and 22.1%, respectively.  Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with hypertension were almost at an 11-fold risk to have  dyslipidemia compared with those with normal blood pressure (crude odds ratio [OR] = 10.85; 95% confidence interval  [CI]: 2.32–26.31, p = 0.024). Patients with diabetes were almost at a ninefold risk to develop dyslipidemia compared with  those who were without diabetes (crude OR = 9.27; 95% CI: 1.68–52.19, p = 0.019). Conclusion: This study reports one of the highest prevalence rates of dyslipidemia reported in Saudi Arabia. Patients  who were hypertensive and diabetic were more likely to develop dyslipidemia compared with others.