Introduction: Saliva is secreted by the salivary gland, and as a screening medium, saliva offers more advantages over serum for the determination of lipid levels due to the non-invasive nature of the collection, reduced infectious risk, and ease with analysis. Its user-friendly nature would be acceptable by especially children.
Objectives: To determine the socio-demographic features of subjects and dyslipidaemia using serum and salivary lipids.
Methodology: Descriptive and cross-sectional. A total of 200 apparently healthy primary school children aged 5-12 years were tested for serum and salivary; total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). A structured study proforma was used for socio-demographic features data collection, and p value ≤0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Statistical analysis was carried out using frequency distribution tables, chi-square, and ANOVA for comparison of means.
Results: There were no statistically significant associations between serum lipids and sex and to some extent age, SES, and BMI, except for TC and TG. Those who were overweight had elevated TC and TG using both serum and saliva, while the underweight have higher abnormal LDL using both fractions. However, the overweight fraction only had abnormalities only in the HDL fraction.
Conclusion: Socio demography had influence on lipid patterns, therefore using the saliva provides a non-invasive alternative for screening children.
Keywords: Apparently healthy; Prevalence; Saliva; Serum; Socio-demography.
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