Body Mass Index Change after One Year from a Health Examination and its Relation to Attitudes toward Lifestyle Change in Japanese Male Workers

Abstract

In Japan, members of the workforce undergo a general health examination (GHE) in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) law and related regulations. Because of a marked increase in the number of workers with health risk factors related to lifestyle, the focus of the GHE is gradually shifting to prevention of lifestyle-related diseases 1) . Under the 1996 amendments to the OSH law and regulations, an employer is required to obtain a physician's opinion regarding the GHE results, act to improve occupational health standards on the basis of GHE results, to provide an occupational health nurse and health care support related to GHE results, and to report GHE results to all workers individually. The sooner these measures are implemented after the examination, the more effectively worker health is promoted. Self-care is the most important healthpromoting behavior because of its simplicity, immediacy and effectiveness. The practical benefits of the GHE depend upon how well the results are acted upon. The occupational health system in Japan requires employers to make practical use of the GHE results.In a previous study, we found a relation in workers between negative attitudes toward the reports on GHE results and the need for medical treatment 2) . But it is unclear whether workers' attitudes toward the GHE results are associated with their ongoing health status. In the present study, we investigated whether attitudes toward the GHE report influenced the examination results one year later and also investigated workers' self-reported lifestyle changes in response to the report. For the purpose of this study, we chose to focus on body mass index (BMI) because several reports indicate that obesity is one of the most important occupational health problems in Japan [3][4][5] . In this study, blood pressure (BP) was also analyzed. Subjects and MethodsThe study was conducted in a pulp and paper factory located in the western part of Japan, where more than 1,100 workers were engaged in paper-making and related occupations. All study subjects and the president of the factory provided informed consent for participation in the study.In the GHE held in the spring of 2002, questionnaires about individuals' responses to the reported GHE-2001 results were distributed to 1,108 workers (1,006 men, 102 women). Two questions were asked: 1) Have you tried to improve your lifestyle with reference to your last GHE results? 2) If you modified your lifestyle, what aspects did you change? Question 2 allowed for more than one answer. The workers provided written answers to the questionnaire at the GHE-2002 and submitted them to the occupational health nurse at the factory. Of the 1,108 workers surveyed, 1,104 submitted valid responses (response rate: 99.6%). The number of women was small, so they were excluded from the study. Men whose GHE-2001 results were not available were also excluded (n=47) because GHE-2001 data were needed for analysis. Therefore, 955 male workers served as subjects of this study. Workers completed anot...

Visual Reminders and Patient Compliance of Type 2 Diabetics

“…Any issues with the sample size aside, there was not enough of a time span from the baseline to follow-up measurements. An observational study, grouping subjects based on their intention to lose weight or not showed an increase in BMI over one year [26]. Statistically significant reductions in BMI have been observed in a period of just two months, but when the intervention being studied specifically focused on weight loss [27].…”