Dyslipidemia in Newfoundland: findings from Canadian primary care sentinel surveillance network in Newfoundland and Labrador

• Main Author: Oake, Justin D.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2019
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/13639/; https://research.library.mun.ca/13639/1/thesis.pdf

Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) has a higher level of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality than any other Canadian province. One factor which may explain this trend is the lipid profile pattern in this province. Given the limited lipid profile data which has been reported from NL, we organized three studies in this thesis to describe the lipid profile of Newfoundlanders. The first study was a secondary analysis of Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) data to document single and mixed dyslipidemia in NL. The second study compared lipid profiles and the prevalence of dyslipidemia between NL CPCSSN data and the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS). The third study used electronic medical record (EMR) data in assessing the validity of ICD codes for identifying patients with dyslipidemia. This was a secondary analysis of EMR data in NL. Most recent lipid profile scores, co-morbidities, and demographic information were extracted from the CPCSSN database. We demonstrated that single and mixed dyslipidemia are quite prevalent in the NL population. Unhealthy levels of HDL were also more prevalent in NL men, compared to the Canadian sample. Of importance, the use of the ICD coding, either alone or in combination with laboratory data or lipid-lowering medication records, was an inaccurate indicator in identifying dyslipidemia.