United Kingdom Heart Disease Prevention Project: 12-Year Follow-Up of Risk Factors1

Abstract

Ten of the original 24 factories from the United Kingdom Heart Disease Prevention Project were resurveyed in 1983 to assess the long-term (12-year) effects of an education program on diet, smoking, and exercise. These 10 factories had previously been grouped into five pairs matched for size, location, and nature of industry, with one of each pair randomly chosen for intervention. Men in intervention factories were given advice on reduction of cholesterol in diet, stopping smoking, weight reduction, and regular exercise. High-risk workers (13%) received personal counseling in addition to the factory-wide education program. A total of 1,204 workers randomly selected from those still employed in 1978 were surveyed. There were significant differences observed in cigarette consumption, butter use, and several other dietary behaviors; however, the differences were small and insignificant for the proportion smoking and leisure-time exercise. The largest effects were in the high-risk group who had received personal counseling. This education program appears to have some lasting effects on behavior associated with coronary disease risk factors. Similarly designed programs may serve as models for community-wide coronary disease prevention programs.

Socioeconomic aspects of spousal concordance for hypertension, obesity, and smoking in a community of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Programs targeting individuals have been used and the effectiveness of such programs is variable 50 . The hypothesis that intervening in couples rather than in individuals may be more efficient has not yet been tested and the assessment of spouse concordance is a first step.…”

Health promotion trials at worksites and risk factors for cancer

“…Most (N=27) of them focused on tobacco control either exclusively (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) or as part of a wider health promotion program (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34). Sixteen health promotion programs focused exclusively (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43) or in part (23-27, 31, 34, 43) on diet.…”

“…The criteria used to select workplaces for the trials were clearly stated in 12 (12,13,17,22,26,28,29,31,35,36,38,51) of the 45 trials. The criteria used included number of workers (13,22,26,29,36), low turnover rates (31,36), high response rate at baseline (22), or acceptability of the program before the randomization process (11). The individual inclusion criteria also varied among the studies in that most of the studies included all or a sample of workers in a worksite, two trials included only at-risk populations (32,42), and six trials used only volunteers (15-18, 32, 44).…”

Randomized Trial of Reduced-Nicotine Standards for Cigarettes

“…Each member of the pair was ran domly assigned to intervention or control status (Rose et al 1980;Bauer et al 1985). At baseline andin 1977-1978, risk factor screening for cardiovascular disease was conducted among men aged 40-59 years in the intervention sites and in a 10-percent random sample of similarly aged men at the control sites.…”

“…At the end of the intervention in 1977-1978, a small but significant reduction in smoking prevalence had occurred among the high-risk smokers in the intervention site (Rose et al 1980). Five intervention and five control worksites were resurveyed in 1983, approximately 12 years after the baseline screening and at least 5 years after the end of the intervention program (Bauer et al 1985). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of smok ing between intervention and control factories, but the smokers at the intervention sites reported smoking sig nificantly fewer cigarettes per day.…”