Abstract

SKAPINO, Estela  and  ALVAREZ VAZ, Ramón. Prevalence of risk factors for chronic non communicable diseases in employees of a bank in Uruguay. Rev.Urug.Cardiol. [online]. 2016, vol.31, n.2, pp.246-255. ISSN 0797-0048.

Introduction: Non communicable diseases, mainly cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases are the leading cause of death in developed countries and Uruguay does not escape this reality. 30% of these deaths occur before age 60 years. Disability generated by these diseases have a high social and economic impact. The main behavioral risk factors for the development of these diseases are related to lifestyle: poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption and smoking. These behaviors lead to developing metabolic risk factors: obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and prediabetes. These risk factors can be modified, preventing the non-communicable diseases development. The workplace is recognized worldwide as a framework for health promotion. Objective: To make a situation diagnosis of the prevalence of behavioral and metabolic risk factors in employees of a state bank in Uruguay. Methodology: Descriptive, cross-sectional study, based on a random sample of the bank employees. A survey and anthropometric measures were performed. To study the association of risk factors contingency tables and logistic regression models were used. Results: 136 employees were surveyed. The gender distribution was similar, the average age was 48 years. 16% reported currently smoking, 58% drink alcohol weekly, 85% consume fruits and vegetables below the recommendations and 46% did not do physical activity. 63% had overweight or were obese, 30% reported hypertension, 33% high cholesterol and 12% prediabetes. Abdominal obesity was associated with increased risk of developing high blood pressure and prediabetes. Smoking and physical inactivity behave better in this population than in similar populations of other countries in the region, however the metabolic risk factors have almost the same prevalence. Conclusions: Even if not representative of the whole country, compared to the adult Uruguayan population this population has a higher prevalence of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, prediabetes, sedentary lifestyle, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables and alcohol consumption on a weekly basis. In turn, presented lower prevalence of smoking, added sodium intake and consumption of foods that contain trans fats and sugary drinks. These results represent a contribution for future interventions.

Keywords : PREVALENCE; CHRONIC NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES; RISK FACTORS; DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES.

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