Prioritization of Effective Factors in Determining Nutritional Regimen for Dyslipidemia Patients Using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

Background and purpose: A common question of patients with dyslipidemia is to know the priority of nutrients intake in their daily regimen. To make decision about the best diet and recommend it to patients, the physicians and/or nutritionists should consider a lot of factors. Materials and methods: In a cross sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was used that contained a list of health factors related to dyslipidemia. A number of internal doctors and nutritionists in three different universities of Mashhad, Tehran and Kerman filled the questionnaires. The opinions of respondents about each factor were collected using Visual Analogue Scale. Data was analyzed applying Fuzzification, Alpha Cut Set and Fuzzy Triangular Membership Function. The exact amounts resulted from Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) were replaced by the amounts resulted from Fuzzy AHP (FAHP) and the weight of each factor was calculated separately and compared with the other factors by Microsoft Excel® and MATLAB®. Results: The most important factors according to respondents were: Body Mass Index (BMI), level of serum LDL, the pattern of daily repast, level of serum cholesterol and having uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The findings of this study and the method of determining priorities for nutritional regimen could be used as a practical guideline for nutritionists when recommending daily regimen for dyslipidemia patients and providing better consultations.