North Dakota Goes Red for Women: A Worksite Wellness Study

BACKGROUND: Worksites may provide an effective environment for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction programs, as CVD continues to remain the leading cause of death for women in the US.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the American Heart Association's North Dakota Goes Red for Women study (NDGR). NDGR contains a worksite based lifestyle intervention program aimed at reducing CVD risk in women.

METHODS: Women from 12 ND worksites (N=666) were systematically assigned to a control or intervention group. Intervention worksite participants attended monthly group classes focused on exercise, nutrition, stress, and tobacco cessation, as well as receiving monthly follow-up phone calls. Control participants were directed to the Go Red website for heart healthy information. All participants were assessed for body weight (BW), BMI, waist circumference (WC), and blood pressure (BP), with 250 women reassessed after one year. Repeated measures analysis was performed to identify within and between groups changes.

RESULTS: There were no differences between groups in any measured variables at baseline. After one year, the control group showed a greater increase in WC (control, 4.04 cm vs. intervention, 2.08 cm, p=0.05), and systolic BP (control, +1.63 mmHg vs. intervention, -2.29 mmHg p<0.01).

DISCUSSION: These results describe the first year of a two year intervention, and show unfavorable changes in WC and SBP for the controls, while the intervention group fared significantly better. The trend was similar, though not significant, for BW and BMI between the groups, showing that lifestyle interventions implemented at worksites can be effective towards reducing CVD risk in women.