Background and Aim: There is no consensus over the relationship between lipid profiles and atherosclerosis risk factors with lumbar disc degeneration. This study aims to investigate the lipid profile and some risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in patients undergoing surgery for lumbar disc degeneration.
Methods and Materials/Patients: A correlational cross-sectional study was carried out on all candidates for lumbar disc degenerative diseases surgery at Poursina Hospital in Rasht City, Iran from July to December 2017 (130 adult patients aged 20-77 years). The obtained data were collected from the patients’ medical file or asking them after obtaining written informed consent. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS V. 16 by performing the Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests to examine the relationship between the study variables. The significance level was set at P≤0.05 for all tests.
Results: 60.8% of subjects had comorbid diseases, mostly hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. Their mean low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels were higher than normal and their mean total cholesterol was at borderline. Also, 74.6% and 84.6% of the patients had Body Mass Index and abdominal circumference higher than the normal range. Physical activity in 88.5% of subjects was below the desired level and 79.2% of the patients did not report a history of smoking. Inferential findings indicated a significant relationship between dyslipidemia and various types of lumbar disc degenerative diseases (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The study showed dyslipidemia and some other risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, including obesity and inactivity in patients with lumbar disc degenerative disease. More research is needed to assess other atherosclerosis risk factors and types of lipids with respect to disc degenerative diseases.