Prevalence of metabolic risk factors and associated 10-year prediction of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in female employees

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remain two of the greatest health challenges in the United Kingdom. Guidelines currently advocate screening individuals to identify those at ‘high risk’ (10‐year risk ≥20%) of CVD and T2DM. This study examined the prevalence of undiagnosed risk factors associated with these two conditions and predicted 10‐year risk. Female local health board employees (n = 371) with no prior diagnosis of CVD or T2DM accepted an invitation for a workplace‐based health assessment. Demographic, anthropometric, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, family and medical histories were all recorded and capillary blood samples obtained for analysis of total and HDL cholesterol and HbA1c. Ten‐year CVD and T2DM risk were predicted using the QRISK2 and QDiabetes algorithms, respectively. A significant proportion of females were either overweight (37.2%) or obese (23.5%), coupled with a high percentage with central obesity (77.6%). Systolic hypertension (42.0%), diastolic hypertension (39.4%) and/or reduced HDL concentrations (32.6%) were also prevalent in a large number of female workers. However,