the demographic and lifestyle char-acteristics of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia referred to a dyslipidemia clinic: a cross-sectional single-center study

Background: familial hypercholesterolemia (fh) is one of the most prevalent dyslipidemia disorders. this study investigated the demographic and lifestyle characteristics of patients with fh referred to a dyslipidemia clinic.methods: this 5-year, single-center cross-sectional study focused on patients with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ldl-c) levels higher than 190 mg/dl referred to a dyslipidemia clinic in tehran, iran, between 2017 and 2022. the study examined their demographics, physical activity, and anxiety within the fh cohort.results: a total of 1724 patients were referred to the dyslipidemia clinic. of these patients, 44 were diagnosed with definite fh. the mean age and ldl-c level of the fh cohort were 38.84±16.85 years and 315.95±81.73 mg/dl, respectively. a significant correlation was found between ldl-c and body mass index (bmi) (correlation coefficient = -0.31, p=0.031) and total sleep duration (correlation coefficient = -0.40, p<0.000). no correlation was observed between age and physical activity or ldl-c levels. additionally, no significant correlation was detected between the dutch score and patients’ ldl-c, bmi, age, or physical activity. regression analysis indicated that bmi and total sleep duration were independent predictors of ldl-c in the fh cohort.conclusion: investigating and identifying patients’ demographic and lifestyle characteristics is the first step in planning efficient and effective management strategies for chronic diseases, such as fh. establishing a patient registry for chronic diseases enhances understanding of the target population and enables healthcare providers to design and implement appropriate preventive and control strategies.