Authors: Harrison Ndetan, Kirk Calhoun, Jeffrey Levin, Christie C. Osuagwu.
Purpose: To conduct a preliminary assessment of the health status and modifiable behavioral risk factors of employees in a teaching and research hospital in rural Northeast Texas with the goal of implementing a focused wellness program to enhance employees’ wellness.
Methods: A self-administered 20-item health status survey was conducted among workers of a teaching/research hospital in rural Northeast Texas. The survey included questions on the perceived general health status, history of specific health issues, work-related factors and modifiable health behavioral factors. Potential association between self-perceived general health status and assessed factors were performed using binary logistic regression reporting crude odds ratios (OR) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Results: Of the 340 (23.7%) employees who completed the survey, 88.5% reported good/excellent health. Over 72% self-identified as overweight/obese, 33.5% high stress, 32.1% high blood pressure, 26.5% high cholesterol. Good/excellent health was more likely to be associated with age (OR=1.03, 95% CI=1.00-1.06), college education (OR=2.48, 95% CI=1.10- 5.57), earning over 50K (OR=3.91, 95% CI=1.67-9.19), engaged in frequent exercise (OR=5.06, 95% CI=2.16-11.86), having a primary care physician (OR=2.32, 95% CI=1.05-5.12), previous participation in a weight management program (OR=2.22, 95% CI=1.13-4.35), and less likely with working as researcher (OR=0.22, 95% CI=0.08-0.59), academic faculty (OR=0.20, 95% CI=0.05-0.89), and nurse assistants
(OR=0.21, 95% CI=0.06-0.75), consuming fat/high carb diets (OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.22-0.95), and fruit juice (OR=0.44, 95% CI=0.21-0.89).
Conclusion: This survey identified some preliminary behavioral and work-related factors specific to this rural teaching/research hospital based upon which an employees’ wellness program is recommended for implementation. This includes nutrition, physical activity and weight management interventions.
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