The association between childhood trauma and lipid levels in an adult low-income, minority population.

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between childhood trauma and lipid profiles in adults from a highly traumatized population at-risk for cardiovascular disease.

Method: We recruited 452 participants, primarily African-American and of low socioeconomic status, from general medical clinics in a large urban hospital. We performed direct comparisons, univariate analysis of variance and regression analyses together and separated by sex, examining the associations of child abuse, body mass index, lipid lowering drug use, blood pressure, age, and substance use to HDL levels and HDL/LDL ratios.