Evaluating Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Young Healthcare Professionals: Insights from Q-Risk 3 Calculations

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Global rise in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) affects young adults, including health professionals.
• Occupational stress, poor lifestyle, inadequate nutrition, and sedentary work contribute to CVD risk.
• Young adults are increasingly susceptible to cardiovascular diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of CVD risk factors in young healthcare workers (aged 25-40).
• To assess the 10-year CVD risk using the QRISK 3 algorithm in this demographic.
• To identify specific risk factors prevalent among young health professionals.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 248 healthcare workers (25-40 years) in a tertiary care hospital.
• Collected data included QRISK 3 questionnaire responses, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and blood samples (HDL-c, fasting glucose, total cholesterol).
• Utilized the QRISK 3 prediction algorithm to estimate 10-year CVD risk.

Main Results:

• High prevalence of overweight/obesity (26.6%), diabetes mellitus (5.24%), hypertension (16.12%), and hyperlipidemia (25.4%).
• Significant prevalence of family history of CVD (47.5%) and light smoking (6.3%).
• Despite high individual risk factor prevalence, the mean 10-year QRISK 3 score was low (1.3%), with female preponderance for most factors except hypertension and low HDL-c.

Conclusions:

• Major CVD risk factors are prevalent among young healthcare workers.
• Other QRISK 3 factors were low, contributing to a lower overall calculated risk.
• Increased prevalence of metabolic risk factors underscores the necessity for lifestyle behavior modification in this group.