Nature of the work correlated to overweight and obesity for nurses: A 10-year hospital-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are a high-risk group for overweight and obesity due to high stress, low-labor medical work, irregular diet, and lack of exercise. There is scarce information on relationship between job characteristics and overweight and obesity among nurses. This study aimed to answer the question. Does the nature of the work including job position, seniority relate to overweight and obesity among nurses? Their incidence was also investigated. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of nurses who underwent annual checkups during 2007 to 2016 in a medical center. Overweight was defined as a body mass index between 24 and 27 kg/m 2 . Obesity was defined as a body mass index higher than 27 kg/m 2 . We calculated the prevalence and incidence of overweight and obesity and estimated relative risks using logistic regression. RESULTS: Overall, 4253 participants were enrolled for the incidence of overweight and obesity. We found that junior staff, administrative directors, working in intensive care units, and old age had a high possibility of overweight. Junior staff, administrative directors, old age, and male sex tend to be obesity. Overweight and obesity occurred rapidly in the first 2 years of their career. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that policies should be set up to achieve the goal of workplace health promotion. Health plans focusing on these factors may help nurses avoid obesity and overweight. The director of the hospital should keep track of the health checkup database to confirm the benefits of its long-term implementation.

Morbidity associated with overweight and obesity in health personnel: a 10-year retrospective of hospital-based cohort study in Taiwan.

PURPOSE: To investigate morbidity associated with overweight and obesity in health personnel and compare the differences among work roles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study examined measurements obtained during employee medical checkups between 2007 and 2016 in a Taiwan medical center. BMI was used to define overweight (≥24 and <27 kg/m2) and obesity (≥27 kg/m2). Morbidity refers to prevalence, period incidence proportion, and incidence rate. Multivariable Cox model was used to estimate the HRs and 95% CI of the incidence proportion across work roles. RESULTS: Ten thousand six hundred fifty-one health personnel with 24,295 BMI measurements were recruited. Mean age was 33.4±10.7 years and 72.4% was female. In total, 1,992 (8.2%) health personnel were underweight, 13,568 (55.8%) had a normal BMI, 5,097 (21%) were overweight, and 3,638 (15%) were obese. Five thousand nine hundred one health personnel with 31,172 different interval-year arrangement combinations were obtained. The incidence proportion of overweight and obesity was 1,947 (6.2%) and 1,494 (4.8%), respectively. The incidence rate was 37/1,000 and 15/1,000 person-years, respectively. Compared with that in supporting staff, the HR of overweight in doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals was 0.93 (95% CI =0.73-1.18, P=0.553), 0.92 (95% CI =0.73-1.16, P=0.491), and 0.85 (95% CI =0.67-1.09, P=0.202), respectively. Similarly, the HR of obesity was 0.86 (95% CI =0.66-1.14, P=0.301), 0.89 (95% CI =0.67-1.18, P=0.430), and 0.84 (95% CI =0.63-1.13, P=0.248), respectively. CONCLUSION: In health personnel, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 21% and 15%, respectively. The incidence proportion was 6.2% and 4.8%, respectively. Morbidity across the four health work roles examined was not significantly different.