Risk Factor Scenario in an Industrial Set-up: Need for an Effective Screening Tool to Assess the High-Risk Group

Industrial and technological revolution has resulted in nutrition transition. This calls for analyzing the risk factor scenario in the industrial population.

The objective was to map the prevalence and assess the risk factors of industrial employees.

The employees of a large petrochemical industry were enrolled (N=269) for the study. Risk factors were elicited through a structured questionnaire. Parameters monitored were fasting blood sugar and lipid profile. Relative risk was calculated to find out significant predictor variables.

The employees had high prevalence of overweight (27%), obesity (22%), central obesity (48.7%), prehypertension (43.2%), hypertension (36.6%), and dyslipidemia (41.4%). They had erroneous dietary habits such as low intake of fruits and vegetables and high fat intake. Most of the employees had low physical activity levels. The prevalence of smoking (13.5%), tobacco (28.2%), and alcohol use (22.2%) were also high with 15.1% having multiple habits. One-fifth of the employees had metabolic syndrome (MS). Seven predictor variables, namely, family history, BMI, WHR, blood pressure, physical inactivity, TG, and TG/H were identified and used to develop the risk score card to identify people at high risk of CVD and DM.

Multiple risk factor scenario among the industrial population studied calls for effective intervention strategies and policy changes to combat the burden of non-communicable diseases. The risk score card can be used to screen the high-risk group in the industrial population.