Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in occupational health care: Feasibility and effectiveness

• Low intensity lifestyle intervention was feasible in occupational setting.
• Men at diabetes risk benefitted from the health check and interventions.
• The factors identified affecting attendance to interventions can be used to develop more effective methods for chronic disease prevention.

AimsTo evaluate feasibility and effectiveness of lifestyle counseling in occupational setting on decreasing risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.MethodsA health check-up including physical examination, blood tests, questionnaires and health advice was completed on 2312 employees of an airline company. Participants with elevated risk for type 2 diabetes based on FINDRISC score and/or blood glucose measurement (n = 657) were offered 1–3 additional lifestyle counseling sessions and 53% of them agreed to participate. After 2.5 years, 1347 employees of 2199 invited participated in a follow-up study.ResultsAmong women and men with low baseline diabetes risk, cardiovascular risk factors increased slightly during follow-up. Larger proportion of the men who attended interventions lost weight at least 5% compared with the non-attendees (18.4% vs. 8.4%, p = 0.031) and their FINDRISC score increased less (0.6 vs. 1.5, p = 0.037). Older age associated with participation in follow-up and higher baseline FINDRISC score and presence of clinical and lifestyle risk factors and problems in sleep and mood increased attendance in interventions.ConclusionsIdentification of employees with cardiovascular and diabetes risk, and the low intensity lifestyle intervention were feasible in occupational health-care setting. However, the health benefits were modest and observed only for men with increased risk.