Background:

Of the 607 fatal work accidents produced in Spain in 2016, 37.9% were due to ischemic heart disease and cerebral stroke. Working conditions such as night work, noise or respiratory pollutants are associated with higher cardiovascular incidence. The objective of the present study was to assess whether health surveillance in workers exposed to these conditions should include the assessment of cardiovascular risk.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study of 680 workers in a public administration. The working conditions were obtained from the business risk assessment and the personal data that allowed the cardiovascular risk assessment, from the medical examination carried out in 2015. For the statistical analysis, Chi-square test (prevalence comparison) and Student’s T test or Mann Whitney U test (means comparison), were applied.

Results:

Exposed was 30.1%, showing significant differences by sex (37% men, 11.9% women, p<0.05). According to REGICOR, 13.2% of those exposed were particularly susceptible to cardiovascular risk.

Conclusions:

A large percentage of workers were exposed to CT related to a higher prevalence of cardiovascular pathology. The percentage of workers qualified as especially sensitive to cardiovascular risk among those exposed suggests that it should be assessed in the monitoring of occupational health when there are working conditions related to cardiovascular pathology.

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