Profile of non communicable disease risk factors in an industrial setting

Aim: The profile of non communicable diseases (NCD) risk factors was identified in an industry by pre tested WHO′s STEPS questionnaire. Settings and Design : A cross - sectional survey of all employment categories of an Industry (2000 employees) was done after randomly selecting subjects (220) from worker (52%) and non worker categories (47.4%), after informed consent. Materials and Methods: Information was collected on behavioural risk factors (STEP I), followed by anthropometric and blood pressure measurements by a trained investigator (STEP II). STEP III constituted biochemical assessment of "at risk" subjects (> 3 risk factors). Statistical Analysis : Percentage of subjects having NCD risk factors and the odds ratios were calculated. Results : Overall risk factor profile of the study subjects revealed universal prevalence of < 500 gms daily intakes of vegetables and fruits, followed by 65.9% and 65.5% prevalence of high blood pressure and high BMI respectively. Central obesity was present in 72.7% of subjects (high waist hip ratio) and 32.3% (high waist circumference) respectively. Tobacco usage, inactivity and alcohol usage habit was prevalent in 31.4, 17.3% and 5% of the study subjects respectively. A total of 34.1% of the subjects were identified as being "at risk" (> 3 risk factors) with prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and diabetes of 40.5, 38.2 and 19.1% respectively. Conclusions : A high prevalence of NCD risk factors in industrial setting was seen; therefore public health approaches are required at workplace settings to curtail the rising epidemic in the productive populations.