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[Blood pressure among tannery workers]
R Cordeiro1, E C Lima Filho, I M Almeida
1Departamento de Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil. cordeiro@fmb.unesp.br
Insights
High blood pressure (hypertension) is prevalent in Brazilian industrial workers, affecting 56.1% of unskilled laborers. Alcohol and smoking were linked to increased hypertension risk in this occupational group.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Cardiovascular Epidemiology
- Public Health
Context:
- Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Brazil.
- High blood pressure is a major risk factor for these diseases.
- A negative correlation exists between occupational qualification and blood pressure.
Purpose:
- To determine the prevalence of high blood pressure in unskilled, low-wage industrial workers.
- To analyze the distribution of blood pressure in this population.
- To compare prevalence with other occupational groups in Brazil.
Summary:
- A study of 73 tannery workers in Brazil found a crude prevalence of 56.1% for high blood pressure.
- Isolated systolic hypertension was observed in 15.8% of the workers.
- Alcohol abuse and smoking were associated with high blood pressure and isolated systolic hypertension.
Impact:
- Hypertension prevalence in this group is significantly higher than in other Brazilian worker populations.
- Findings highlight the need for further research into factors contributing to elevated blood pressure in this demographic.
- Results underscore the importance of understanding occupational health disparities in hypertension.
Introduction:
Cardiovascular diseases have been shown to be the leading cause of death in Brazil since the 1970s. High blood pressure has been the major risk factor among the above mentioned diseases. A negative correlation between occupational qualification and blood pressure has been observed among workers. The above mentioned facts bring out the importance of the knowledge of high blood pressure distribution among the different occupational groups. The aim of the present study was to describe the distribution of blood pressure in stable and homogeneous population of unskilled, low wage earning industrial workers. The Prevalence of high blood pressure was established for this specific group. This prevalence was also related to some biological and socio-economical covariates as compared with that among other occupational groups in Brazil.
Method:
The subjects were 73 active employees at a tannery in Botucatu, state of S. Paulo, Brazil, in July 1993. These subjects underwent blood pressure measurements, anamnesis and clinical examination. The results were compared with those of similar studies carried out in elsewhere Brazil. Age confounding was controlled by different techniques.
Result:
The crude prevalence of high blood pressure detected in this group of workers was of 56.1%, with 15.8% of isolated systolic hypertension. Alcohol abuse and smoking were associated with high blood pressure and isolated systolic hypertension in the population studied.
Discussion:
Prevalence of hypertension in the group studied is significantly higher than that observed in other groups of workers studied in Brazil. Such a finding points to the need for further investigation so as to isolate those factors involved in the increased blood pressure found in this group.