Periodic Health Assessment in Office Workers of Isfahan Insurance Organization, Iran

Background: Healthy people are the base of persistent development. Nowadays, non-communicable diseases are greater concerns than infectious diseases. In fact, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and vehicle accidents are major causes of mortality in the world. It is thus important to identify the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. In Iran, we have periodic health assessments in industrial centers, but office workers have been neglected in such evaluations. Methods: In this analytic cross-sectional research, physicians examined 255 office workers in Medical Services Insurance Organization of Isfahan (Iran). They made paper and electronic health records for each individual. Laboratory data of 218 employees was collected. We checked total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG), and fasting blood sugar (FBS). Correlation tests and t-test were used to analyze the data in SPSS. Findings: Among the 255 studied individuals, 33 persons (about 13%) had hypertension (systolic blood pressure > 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg). Of these subjects, 75% (n = 25) were unaware of their disease. Moreover, about 56% of participants were overweight and obese (body mass index > 25 kg/m2). Five individuals had diabetes but three of them were unaware. In lipid profile assessment, 11 persons (4.4%) had TG > 300 mg/dL (8 persons were unaware), 59 persons (23%) had LDL > 160 mg/dL and 13 persons (5%) had LDL > 190 mg/dL (8 persons were unaware). Conclusion: The high prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hyperlipidemia shows the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, periodic health assessment for office employees is recommended. Organizations should obligate health education for their employees. Keywords: Health assessment, Lipid profile, Body mass index, Hypertension