SERUM LIPID PROFILE AMONG POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN ATTENDING TERTIARY HOSPITAL AT CHITWAN, NEPAL

Background: Menopause is a phase of woman’s natural aging process and is marked by the cessation of ovarian function. The increased incidence of cardiovascular risk in post-menopausal women may be due to hormonal imbalance leading to derangement of lipid profile. The aim of study was to study the serum lipid profile among post-menopausal women attending at a tertiary care hospital in Nepal. Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among 156 post-menopausal women attending Medicine Out Patient Department at Chitwan medical college and teaching hospital. Serum Lipid profile were measured by an automated on Dimension® clinical chemistry analyzer and serum estrogen was measured by CLIA on Siemen ADVIA Centaur XP immunoassay. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Study finding suggests that serum Triglycerides, Total cholesterol, and LDL were found to be elevated in 48.7%, 23.7% and 14.7% study participants respectively while serum HDL level was found to be low in 10.9% study subjects. Serum HDL had significantly associated with different age groups and estrogen(p<0.05). The serum TG, TC, and LDL were negatively correlated (r = -0.096, p = 0.23), (r = -0.09, p = 0.22), (r = -0.18, p = 0.04) with estrogen respectively while serum HDL was positively correlated (r = 0.32, p = 0.01) with estrogen. The serum TG, TC, LDL were negatively correlated with age and serum HDL was positively correlated with age. Conclusions: Due to changes in lipid profiles and the loss of estrogen’s cardio preventive impact, post-menopausal women are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.