Prevalence of high cardiovascular risk by economic sector

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of high cardiovascular risk and the trend of cardiovascular risk factors in a large sample of Belgian workers. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on the data of workers under medical surveillance by the non-profit occupational health service IDEWE in 2018. The prevalence of poor health for smoking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure according to the American Heart Association (AHA) definition was investigated. The presence of three or more poor cardiovascular health metrics was considered high cardiovascular risk. A log-binomial regression model was used to compare the prevalence of high cardiovascular risk between economic sectors taking into account age and gender and to calculate predicted probabilities of high cardiovascular risk. Results Data about 212,792 workers were available. In 2018, overall, 7% of workers had high cardiovascular risk. Transport and construction had the highest prevalence of high cardiovascular risk, 14% and 12%, respectively. The lowest prevalence, 3%, was observed in education. Differences between sectors remained statistically significant after adjustment for age and gender. In men, workers in transport and storage and in construction had the highest predicted probability of high cardiovascular risk that increased with age. In women, highest predicted probability was observed in transport and storage. Conclusions When implementing health promotion initiatives, priority should be given to sectors and professions where risk factors are most prevalent or are increasing rapidly. Measures should be tailored to the special needs of the occupational groups at high risk.

Mortality rates and cardiovascular disease burden in type 2 diabetes by occupation, results from all Swedish employees in 2002–2015

“…The extent to which our findings are generalizable to other countries with larger socio-economic differences and other working conditions than in Sweden remains to be seen. It should be noted that our findings regarding the general employed population were in line with those of previous reports from the UK [ 27 ], Belgium [ 28 ] and Australia [ 29 ], indicating high mortality in manufacturing workers. Moreover, Sweden’s overall diabetes prevalence is in line with that in Europe as a whole [ 7 ].…”

Examining Optimism, Psychosocial Risks, and Cardiovascular Health Using Life's Simple 7 Metrics in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and the Jackson Heart Study

“…The secondary outcome variables used repeated-measures of the four biological LS7 metrics (BMI, BP, blood glucose, and cholesterol) assessed during exams subsequent to when optimism was assessed, i.e., JHS Exams 2-3 and MESA Exams 3-5. Because some LS7 metrics were not collected during follow-up exams, we created the secondary outcome variables by adapting methods used in previous studies ( 69 , 70 ). We categorized the variables into “all ideal metrics,” “at least 1 intermediate but no poor metrics,” and “at least 1 poor metric.” Due to a small sample size in the “all ideal” category, we created a binary outcome variable to compare “ideal or intermediate (no poor) metrics” vs. “at least 1 poor metric.” Additionally, we compared participants with 0-1 poor metrics (lower cardiovascular risk) with 2-4 poor metrics (non-lower cardiovascular risk).…”

“…The secondary outcome variables used repeated-measures of the four biological LS7 metrics (BMI, BP, blood glucose, and cholesterol) assessed during exams subsequent to when optimism was assessed, i.e., JHS Exams 2-3 and MESA Exams 3-5. Because some LS7 metrics were not collected during follow-up exams, we created the secondary outcome variables by adapting methods used in previous studies (69,70). We categorized the variables into "all ideal metrics, " "at least 1 intermediate but no poor metrics, " and "at least 1 poor metric."…”

Factors Associated with Cardiovascular Disease Risk among Employees at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution

“…Consequently, knowledge related to risk factors, including workplace factors, is important to promote successful specific health programs. In Europe, there are limited data on cardiovascular health in working populations [ 24 , 25 ]. The higher education institutions (HEIs) in Europe, which are members of the UK Healthy Universities Network, are gradually introducing health promotion strategies using a “whole university approach”.…”