The cardiovascular health status of minority female nursing assistants working in long-term care: A pilot study

Abstract Objective To describe the cardiovascular disease (CVD) status of nursing assistants (NAs) working in long-term care. Background : Most research with NAs focus on work-related outcomes despite NAs' potentially high risk for CVD. Methods Baseline data from a pilot physical activity (PA) and diet focused health promotion study were used to describe NAs CVD risk. Objective (blood pressure, lipid panel, PA levels, body mass index) and subjective (depressive symptoms) data from 39 NAs were used to provide a CVD assessment. Results Twenty-nine (76.3%) participants had at least three CVD risk factors. Specifically, 18% of participants were hypertensive, 89% of participants were overweight/obese, 90% of participants had hyperlipidemia and 97% of participants did not meet PA guidelines. Conclusion The data suggest NAs working in long-term care have multiple CVD risk factors. Future research should consider PA and diet focused worksite health promotion (WHP) interventions to decrease their CVD risks.