1837-PUB: Impact of Annual Health Evaluations in a Workplace Setting—Skipping an Evaluation Is Associated with Increased Risk Factors for Chronic Disease

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of skipping an annual health evaluation on biometric and blood-based metrics related to chronic disease. Methods: This longitudinal study included a cohort of adults who participated in an employer-sponsored wellness program in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 but missed 2020, with metrics for body weight, BMI, blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and lipids (Table) for each year. The mean differences between 2017 and 2019 (“no evaluations missed”) were compared to the mean differences between 2019 and 2021 (“evaluation missed”) using paired t tests. To account for changes in test procedures and period effects such as Covid, individual results were normalized by subtracting a population mean of an independent cohort that was evaluated for all 5 years (2017-2021), across all metrics and years. Results: Of the 7,620 participants, 48.9% were female and the mean (standard deviation) age was 44.8 (10.9) years. Missing an annual evaluation was associated with increased BMI (0.09 kg/m2; P=0.04), HbA1c (0.03%, P=0.0006), and triglycerides (3.68 mg/dL, P=0.003), and decreased HDL-C (-1.39 mg/dL, P<0.0001), compared to not missing an evaluation. Conclusions: Missing an annual workplace health evaluation was associated with higher levels of risk factors related to chronic disease. Disclosure K.T.Van: Employee; Quest Diagnostics. L.L.Sipe: None. Z.Chen: Employee; Quest Diagnostics, Stock/Shareholder; Quest Diagnostics. M.S.Fragala: Employee; Quest Diagnostics, Stock/Shareholder; Quest Diagnostics. C.E.Birse: Employee; Quest Diagnostics.