Hypertension and diabetes in healthcare workers and their association to life habits and occupational stressors

Abstract Objective: to evaluate the association between life habits and psychosocial factors at work with the presence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in healthcare workers. Methods: in this cross-sectional study, we used randomized and stratified sampling to select the participants. A total of 3,804 individuals working in Primary Healthcare and medium-complexity services of five municipalities in the State of Bahia, Brazil, participated. The outcome variables were defined according to self-reported morbidity. We analyzed the following life habits: physical activities practice, alcoholic drinks ingestion, smoking and engagement in leisure activities. We used the Job Content Questionnaire to evaluate psychosocial factors at work. Results: the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes was 18% and 4%, respectively. After age and sex adjustments, passive labor was associated to both illnesses, and smoking only with diabetes. Conclusion: smoking and working under unfavorable psychosocial conditions (passive labor) must be the target of hypertension and diabetes prevention. Healthy life habits and proper working conditions must be stimulated to prevent chronic diseases and to protect the workers’ health.