259978 Actual Cardiovascular Disease Risk and the Related Factors among Blue-collar Workers with Low-wage

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Won Ju Hwang, MPH, PhD, RN , College of Nursing Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
OiSaeng Hong, PhD, RN , School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Sally Rankin, PhD, RN , School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Mi Ja Kim, PhD, RN, FAAN , Department of Biobehavioral Health Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Objectives: Actual cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and the related factors among blue-collar workers employed at small companies were investigated in this study. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of 238 Korean blue-collar workers, aged 18 years or older, who worked in small companies and registered in occupational health center. Data collection included the questionnaires, anthropometric and blood pressure measures, and blood sampling for lipid and glucose levels. A multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors for actual CVD risk. Results: The participants were primarily male (63%), with a mean age of 37 years and high school education or less (82%). The majority of the participants (74%) had a monthly individual income less than US $1,700. The prevalence of actual CVD risk among blue-collar workers was 32%. A multiple regression model showed that a combination of individual, psychosocial, and work-related factors explained 34% of the variance in actual CVD risk (R2 = .34, F 11, 226 = 10.44, p< .0001, Adj. R2 = .31). The significant predictors of actual CVD risk included knowledge of CVD risk, risk perception, higher job stress, and Waist-hip-ratio (WHR). WHR was found to be the strongest positive predictor of actual CVD risk. Conclusions: Blue-collar workers' actual CVD risk was affected by multiple factors. It is important to consider all of these significant predictors of actual CVD risk when an intervention program is designed to reduce CVD among Korean blue-collar workers.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Occupational health and safety
Public health or related nursing
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Explain how job stress is an important determinant of actual CVD risk in blue-collar workers. Describe how blue-collar workers related to CVD risk. Identify factors related to actual CVD risk in blue-collar workers.

Keywords: Vulnerable Populations, Chronic (CVD)

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have conducted research on “the CVD in blue-collar workers: Actual risk, risk perception, and risk reduction behavior” for 4 years, and was the PI on this project funded by University of California Pacific Rim Research Program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.