Epidemiological Profile of Obesity among Health Staff at the Yaoundé Central Hospital and at the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a real pandemic and with ever increasing prevalence. Health professionals play a vital role in the fight against this condition. They are also affected by obesity and could be even more affected than the general population. These health workers sometimes have a wrong perception of their own weight which interferes with their ability to counsel their patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with obesity among health care workers and increase their awareness of the problem. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Yaoundé Central Hospital (YCH) and the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (YUTH) during a 6 months period. The data were collected through a questionnaire structured according to WHO STEP wise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance (STEPS). We measured weight, height, waist circumference, and blood pressure according to the WHO STEPS procedure. The Chi square test and logistic regression were used to measure the association between the qualitative variables. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 350 health personnel participated in this study. The prevalence of obesity was 30.3%. That of abdominal obesity was 46.9%. The factors independently associated to overall obesity were age > 40 years [OR = 2.22 95% CI (1.28 -3.87)], nursing assistant profession [OR = 2.31 95% IC (1.21 -4.41)] and high blood pressure [OR = 3.38 95% CI (1.16 -9.84)] and to abdominal obesity, age > 40 years [OR = 3.35 95% CI (1.96 -5.71)], female gender [OR = 5.47 95% CI (2.95 -10.14)], marriage [OR = 1.84