Cardiovascular disease risk factors among physicians, nurses, and administrative staff: data analysis from a tertiary trauma center hospital

Several studies have shown that hospital workers are at a higher risk for burnout and mental health issues. However, scant data exist about cardiovascular disease risk factors among them. Moreover, it remains unknown whether there are differences among physicians, nurses, and administrative staff working in a hospital. The purpose of our study is to explore the risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease among physicians, nurses, and administrative staff working in a tertiary trauma center hospital and to identify the group of workers under higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease.

Physicians, nurses, and administrative staff of a tertiary hospital trauma center located in an urban location participated in our study. Baseline demographical, somatometric, and pharmaceutical characteristics were collected prospectively through a questionnaire after a personal interview with a physician–investigator of our study. Cardiovascular risk was estimated according to Heart Score and the most recent European Guidelines.

Between May 2023 and December 2023, a total of 354 hospital workers completed our questionnaire, participated in our study, and were analyzed. One hundred and eight were physicians (30.5%), 128 were nurses (36.2%), and the remaining 118 (33.3%) were administrative staff. Their mean age was 45.8±10.6, 48.4±8.4, and 51.9±8.5 years old, respectively (p-values < 0.001). The majority of the physicians were male (N=58, 53.7%), in contrast with nurses (N=32, 25%) and administrative staff (N=22, 18.6%). No significant differences were observed regarding body mass index (BMI) among physicians, nurses, and the remaining hospital workers (25.8±4.5, 27.0±6.1, and 28.1±14.9, respectively). The incidence of coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension was significantly higher in nurses (4.7%, 26.6%, and 10.9%) compared to physicians (1.9%, 13.0%, and 3.7%) and administrative staff (0%, 11.9%, and 3.4%); paradoxically, no significant difference was observed in dyslipidemia incidence (p=0.33). Estimating cardiovascular risk using Heart Score, we identified that administrative staff were at a higher risk compared with physicians and nurses (p<0.005). (See Figure) This could be attributed to the higher age of this group and the significantly higher levels of total and LDL-cholesterol (See Figure 2).

Our analysis showed that administrative staff is at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to physicians and nurses. This could be attributed to the older age of administrative staff, as well as the higher levels of total and LDL-cholesterol. Further studies are required for the better risk stratification of hospital workers.

Risk for CVD.