SJWEH Supplements are open access, (mostly) non-peer-reviewed articles usually published in theme issues or as part of a series of papers from a conference or workshop. Scand J Work Environ Health stopped publishing SJWEH Supplements in 2009.

Article

SJWEH Supplements 2007;(no 3):49-53    pdf

Metabolic syndrome among operators using video display units in call centers

by Pietroiusti A, Magrini A, Coppeta L, Barone S, Sed B, Manuli G, Bergamaschi E, Bergamaschi A, Piccoli B

Objectives Reports about medical consequences from sedentary work are contradictory. They may be associated with the metabolic syndrome, a collection of cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and central obesity. No data are currently available on workers using visual display units (VDU), a potential high-risk group, given the sedentariness inherent in this work.

Methods The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was evaluated among 1547 VDU users with a mean age of 29.7 years and among a control group of 892 persons with a mean age of 30.2 years who performed nonsedentary work, selected on the basis of similar demographic data. A physical examination and laboratory tests useful for the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome were performed.

Results The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 3.10% for the VDU users versus 2.01% for the controls [odds ratio (OR) 2.048, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.169–3.587, P=0.012). Significance persisted after control for confounding factors (eg, smoking and leisure-time activity) in a multivariate analysis (OR 1.555, 95% CI 1.03– 2.690, P<0.05).

Conclusions The metabolic syndrome should be carefully considered when health surveillance programs for VDU users are implemented.