Prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease among the workers of an industry of South India

Abstract

Introduction: Industrial workers are a captive group and can be considered ideal for increasing awareness, adopting preventive strategies and thus to the control of cardiovascular diseases. However, there are limited numbers of studies which are carried out to estimate the coronary heart disease risk burden in factory settings of India. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of coronary heart disease risk factors among the workers of a nylon yarn manufacturing factory in South India. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among all employees aged 20-59 years employing a clinical examination and biochemical estimation. Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, Fasting Blood sugar and Lipid profile were measured. Patients known to have coronary heart disease, those aged less than 20 years and those aged more than 59 years were excluded. Results: 320 workers were evaluated. Their mean age was 32 years. Among the study population, 6.25% were obese and 21.8% were current smokers. 14.7% of them were found to be hypertensives and 61.87% were pre-hypertensives. 5.9% of the workers were diabetic and 14.6% had impaired fasting glucose. 55.93% of them had an increased Total cholesterol / High Density Lipoprotein ratio. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease among a comparatively young population in a South Indian industrial setting.