Data mining: traditional spring festival associated with hypercholesterolemia

Serum lipid concentrations are affected by long-term high-fat diets; thus, we hypothesize that lipid levels increase after the Spring Festival in China.

In total, 20,192 individuals (male: n=10,108, female: n=10,084) were enrolled in this retrospective cross-sectional study based on clinical data from the Laboratory Information System (LIS) and Hospital Information System (HIS) in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2014 to 2018. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were analyzed.

The serum TC [male vs. female: (4.71 ± 0.90 vs. 4.56 ± 0.85) mmol/L], TG [male vs. female: (1.71 ± 1.56 vs. 1.02 ± 0.68) mmol/L], and LDL-C [male vs. female: (3.01 ± 0.77 vs. 2.73 ± 0.74) mmol/L] levels were significantly higher in males than in females (P < 0.001); serum HDL-C [male vs. female: (1.18 ± 0.28 vs. 1.50 ± 0.34) mmol/L] was significantly lower in males (P < 0.001). In February, the TC, TG, and LDL-C levels were 8.4%, 16.3%, and 9.3% higher than the lowest levels recorded, respectively. The prevalence of dyslipidemia of the two weeks before the Spring festival was significantly lower than that of the first week after the Spring festival (43.6% (168/385) vs. 54.1% (126/233), P=0.007). Additionally, the prevalence of dyslipidemia was statistically higher in the first week after the Spring Festival than in May-January.

Higher TC, TG, and LDL-C in winter could be associated with high-fat diets during the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival was immediately followed by a higher lipid concentrations. Thus, we don't recommend lipid assessment or physical examination immediately after the holiday especially Spring festival.