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Cardiovascular Health Among Employees of a Brazilian Tertiary Hospital Assessed by the Life's Essential 8 Score: A
Erlon Oliveira de Abreu-Silva1,2, Fernanda Jafet El Khouri1, João Gabriel Sanchez1
1Hcor Research Institute, Hospital do Coracao, Sao Paulo 04004-030, Brazil.
Insights
Healthcare workers in Brazil showed moderate cardiovascular health (CVH) using the American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 (LE8) tool. Poor diet and physical activity were key areas for improvement, highlighting the need for workplace wellness programs.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Occupational Health
- Public Health
Background:
- The American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 (LE8) is a comprehensive tool for assessing cardiovascular health (CVH) across general populations.
- CVH assessment using LE8 is not yet standard practice in workplace health evaluations.
- This study piloted the LE8 tool for CVH assessment among healthcare workers in Brazil via a mobile application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the cardiovascular health (CVH) of healthcare workers using an adapted American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score.
- To identify specific health behaviors and factors contributing to CVH within this occupational group.
- To explore the feasibility of using a mobile application for LE8-based health assessments in the workplace.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted with 65 adult employees at a tertiary hospital in Brazil.
- Participants self-reported LE8 metrics through a dedicated mobile application.
- Data collected included demographics, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) scores, and LE8 components (diet, physical activity, sleep, nicotine exposure, BMI, lipids, glycemic profile, blood pressure).
Main Results:
- The mean LE8 overall score was 69.39 ± 12.63, classifying most participants (69.2%) in the moderate CVH category.
- Diet quality (34.76 ± 24.3) and physical activity (45.38 ± 40.58) were identified as significant areas of low CVH.
- Health behaviors (mean score 58.90) were significantly poorer than health factors (mean score 79.88) (p < 0.001).
- Moderate perceived stress (mean PSS-10 score 19.01) was observed, with no significant correlation to overall LE8 scores.
Conclusions:
- Healthcare workers in a Brazilian tertiary hospital demonstrated moderate overall cardiovascular health (CVH) based on the adapted LE8 score.
- Health behaviors, specifically diet and physical activity, represent the most vulnerable aspects of CVH in this population.
- Implementing LE8 assessments in the workplace could facilitate targeted preventive strategies for improving employee health in Brazil.
Abstract:
Background/Objectives: The American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 (LE8) is a tool proposed to categorize overall cardiovascular health (CVH), ranging from 0 to 100 and classifies CVH as low (<50), moderate (50-79) or high (≥80), based on the following health behaviors (diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure and sleep) and health factors (body mass index-BMI, lipid levels, glycemic profile and blood pressure). Although used in the general population, it is not part of the health assessment routine in the workplace. We assessed CVH of healthcare workers using an LE8-based score through a mobile application. Methods: Cross-sectional pilot study with adults working at a tertiary hospital in Brazil. We used an app for self-reporting LE8 metrics. Additionally, data on age, sex, and mental health (10-item Perceived Stress Scale, PSS-10) were collected. Results: Sixty-five adults (58.5% female; mean age 36 ± 9.01 years) were included. The mean LE8 overall score was 69.39 ± 12.63. The proportion of participants in the low, moderate and high cardiovascular health categories were 6.2%, 69.2% and 24.6%, respectively. Diet quality (34.76 ± 24.3) and physical activity (45.38 ± 40.58) were in the "low cardiovascular health" category. "Health behaviors" had a significantly lower mean score than "health factors" (58.90 ± 20.53 vs. 79.88 ± 15.55, p < 0.001). The mean PSS-10 score was 19.01 ± 7.49, indicating moderate perceived stress. Overall LE8 and PSS-10 scores were not significantly correlated (rs = -0,0.17; p = 0.161). There was no significant difference in the mean overall LE8 score in the linear regression model adjusting for age, sex and perceived stress. Conclusions: Among employees of a Brazilian tertiary hospital, the adapted LE8 score indicated overall moderate CVH. Health behaviors-particularly diet quality and physical activity-were the main vulnerable areas. Implementation of an LE8-based assessment in the workplace may be useful for targeted prevention strategies in Brazil. Future larger and longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
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