The Effects of Specific Health Guidance on Prevalence and Improvement Rates of Metabolic Syndrome in Workers: Nine-year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a specific health guidance for workers on the prevalence and improvement rates of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the variation of medical assessment data in a nine-year longitudinal study. We recruited 1,693 Japanese workers, aged 39-55 years, who were required to receive a six-month specific health guidance in 2008. They were divided into the complete and incomplete groups according to the guidance’s completion status. Each group was further divided according to the presence of MetS. We determined the prevalence and improvement rates of MetS through nine-year follow-up surveys (between 2009 and 2017). Furthermore, we compared the variation of the medical assessment data in 2017 from the baseline data of the two groups. The improvement rates of MetS were significantly higher in the complete group (HRs: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.10-1.68), after adjusting for sex, age, medical assessment data, smoking, and the stage of lifestyle change. The prevalence rates of MetS were significantly lower in the complete group (HRs: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.56-0.80). At the nine-year follow-up, the body weight, waist circumference, triglyceride levels, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) improved in the complete group. Our findings demonstrated that completing specific health guidance was effective in the long term.