Evaluation of a worksite programme for the modification of cardiovascular risk factors

This article reports on the long-term results of a randomized controlled trial of non-pharmacological intervention for mildly-elevated levels of cardiovascular risk factors. The intervention consisted of individual counselling by occupational health professionals. From a population of 4607 volunteers who were working for Australian government organizations, a sample of 2489 subjects met the eligibility criteria for the trial, and 1937 subjects were available for follow-up examination three years later. Changes in the levels of risk factors favoured the interventional group marginally and appeared to vary with the sex, age and occupation of the subjects. A significant effect of intervention was noted for systolic blood pressure levels; however, although this interventional effect was more pronounced in men of 40 years of age or over and in administrative workers, clinically it was small. The results suggest that individual counselling, as undertaken in this study, generally is not effective in the long-term modification of mildly-elevated cardiovascular risk factors.