Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors between prehypertension and normotension in a university workplace setting

Abstract

1. Many organizations are exploring innovative employee wellness programs to improve workforce health. Prehypertension is a risk factor for the development of hypertension and an independent risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. Hypertension is highly prevalent and leads to increased healthcare costs, but literature on the prevalence of prehypertension in the workplace is lacking. The purpose of our study was to evaluate prevalence of prehypertension and assess CV risk factors among the University’s staff. 2. Participants were recruited via campus-wide email sent to all employees. A health history questionnaire and physical activity questionnaire (PAR-Q) was used to exclude participants with any self-reported chronic illnesses, including any form of CV disease, diabetes, lung, liver or renal disease. Forty one (11Males/30Females, 50 6yrs) apparently healthy nonsmoking but sedentary participants were included. Office blood pressure (BP) was measured in the right arm, in duplicates with 5min intervals, using an aneroid sphygmomanometer, and the average was calculated, after the participants rested for 5min in a seated position. Fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were analyzed using Cholestech LDX analyzer. Height and weight were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). 3. The prevalence of normotension, prehypertension, and hypertension were 21/41 (w51%), 17/41 (w41%) and 3/41 (w8%), respectively. Normotension vs. prehypertension (Mean SD) for systolic BP (109.4 6.6 vs. 126.8 7.4mmHg; p<0.001), diastolic BP (71.8 4.2 vs. 82.3 3.1mmHg; p<0.001), weight (74.9 13.1 vs. 86.9 18.5kg; p1⁄40.026), BMI (26.8 2.8 vs. 30.0 6.6 kg/m2; p1⁄40.040) and fasting blood glucose (94.8 6.1 vs. 102.8 10.1 mg/dL; p1⁄40.004). There were no statistically significant differences in lipid profiles between the groups. 4. Our preliminary findings indicate that prehypertension has high prevalence (41%) in the University workforce. Compared to normotensive participants, prehypertensives were more likely to be obese and have impaired fasting glucose. This suggests that prehypertension is associated with other CV risk factors and heightens CV risk of the University employees. Therefore, early and effective lifestyle modification strategies may help to decrease long-term CV risk.