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Can worksite lifestyle interventions reduce cardiac risk?

That's what  cardiologist Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital seeks to learn through a ” three-year study, known as the TANSNIP-PESA study, to determine whether a workplace-based lifestyle intervention, accompanied by imaging data, will lead to a reduction in the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) disease risk factors related to lifestyle,” according to Mount Sinai Hospital and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Said Dr. Fuster: “Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and early prevention is important for health gains and for cost reduction. I fully expect that individual awareness of cardiovascular disease based on imaging, accompanied by a comprehensive three-year work-based lifestyle intervention, will lead to a reduction in the prevalence of CV risk factors related to lifestyle.”

Here's how the study will work: “The population for the TANSNIP-PESA consists of people 40 to 60 years old and who are employees from a Spanish corporation. Employees will be divided into two groups. One group will comprise employees with high imaging-defined CV risk and a second group will comprise those with low imaging-defined CV risk. In both groups, participants will be randomized to either receive the comprehensive three-year worksite lifestyle intervention or standard occupational health care.”

“Employees in the workplace-based lifestyle intervention program will receive 12 personalized lifestyle counseling sessions spread over the three-year period, a Fitbit personal fitness monitor to self-monitor physical activity, and an Ergotron sit-to-stand station. Data will be collected at baseline, at year one, at year two, and at year three. The primary outcome measure is the FUSTER-BEWAT score, a newly developed score, which consists of blood pressure, physical activity, sedentary behavior, body mass index, fruit and vegetable consumption and smoking. The researchers will also measure secondary outcomes such as changes in lifestyle, smoking, body weight, diet, vitality and quality of life, and risk factor profiles, as well as changes in blood biomarkers, and work-related outcomes such as work productivity and absenteeism.”

The researchers' hypothesis is: “The level of compliance with the lifestyle intervention will be higher in the group with high imaging-defined CV risk, compared to those with low imaging-defined CV risk. They will also review the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, compared with standard care, from both the societal and employer's perspective.”

Stay tuned…