title: Prevalence and incidence of dyslipidaemia among adults in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and disproportionately affects low-income and middle-income countries. Dyslipidaemia is an important modifiable risk factor for CVD. There are important knowledge gaps regarding the population levels of lipid variables and frequency of non-optimal levels in populations within Africa. We propose to conduct a systematic review to determine the prevalence and occurrence of dyslipidaemia in adult populations within countries in Africa.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will perform a comprehensive search to identify all possible published and unpublished studies on the prevalence or incidence of dyslipidaemia in Africa reported from 1 January 1980, without language restriction. The scientific databases PubMed MEDLINE, EMBASE and ISI Web of Science will be searched, as well as Grey literature. Following study selection, full-text papers acquisition, and data extraction and synthesis, we will appraise the quality of studies and risk of bias, and assess heterogeneity. Prevalence/incidence data will be summarised by country and geographic regions and a meta-analysis will be conducted for variables defined identically across studies. Variance stabilising transformations will be applied as appropriate to the row data before meta-analysis. This systematic review will be reported according to the MOOSE Guidelines for Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The current study is based on published data and as such ethics consideration is not a requirement. This review is expected to provide relevant data to help in quantifying the magnitude of dyslipidaemia in African populations, to emphasise the need for appropriate prevention and control strategies, and to identify research gaps and remaining challenges. The final report of the systematic review in the form of a scientific paper will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Findings will further be presented at conferences and submitted to relevant health authorities.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  PROSPERO CRD42014015376.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Unit, Edéa Regional Hospital, Edéa, Cameroon Medical Diagnostic Center, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Jean Jacques N
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Noubiap
authors.affiliation: Sickle Cell Unit, Mother and Child Centre, Chantal Biya Foundation, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Jobert Richie N
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Nansseu
authors.affiliation: Goulfey District Hospital, Goulfey, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Jean Joel R
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bigna
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Ahmadou M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jingi
authors.affiliation: Non-communicable Disease Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: André Pascal
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Kengne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015995:Prevalence; D012107:Research Design; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY