Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study

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dc.contributor.authorKolbe-Alexander, Tracyen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorConradie, Jacoen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorLambert, Estelleen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-23T11:47:24Z
dc.date.available2015-11-23T11:47:24Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: The global increase in the prevalence of NCD's is accompanied by an increase in risk factors for these diseases such as insufficient physical activity and poor nutritional habits. The main aims of this research study were to determine the extent to which insufficient physical activity (PA) clustered with other risk factors for non-communicable disease (NCD) in employed persons undergoing health risk assessment, and whether these risk factors were associated with higher healthcare costs. METHODS: Employees from 68 companies voluntarily participated in worksite wellness days, that included an assessment of self-reported health behaviors and clinical measures, such as: blood pressure (BP), Body Mass Index (BMI), as well as total cholesterol concentrations from capillary blood samples. A risk-related age, 'Vitality Risk Age' was calculated for each participant using an algorithm that incorporated multiplicative pooled relative risks for all cause mortality associated with smoking, PA, fruit and vegetable intake, BMI, BP and cholesterol concentration. Healthcare cost data were obtained for employees (n = 2 789). RESULTS: Participants were 36+/-10years old and the most prevalent risk factors were insufficient PA (67%) and BMI[greater than or equal to]25 (62%). Employees who were insufficiently active also had a greater number of other NCD risk factors, compared to those meeting PA recommendations (chi2 = 43.55; p < 0.0001). Moreover, employees meeting PA guidelines had significantly fewer visits to their family doctor (GP) (2.5 versus 3.11; p < 0.001) than those who were insufficiently PA, which was associated with an average cost saving of ZAR100 per year (p < 0.01). Furthermore, for every additional year that the 'Vitality Risk Age' was greater than chronological age, there was a 3% increased likelihood of at least one additional visit to the doctor (OR = 1.03; 95% CI = 1.01 - 1.05). CONCLUSION: Physical inactivity was associated with clustering of risk factors for NCD in SA employees. Employees with lower BMI, better self-reported health status and readiness to change were more likely to meet the PA guidelines. These employees might therefore benefit from physical activity intervention programs that could result in improved risk profile and reduced healthcare expenditure.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationKolbe-Alexander, T., Conradie, J., & Lambert, E. (2013). Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study. <i>BMC Public Health</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15248en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKolbe-Alexander, Tracy, Jaco Conradie, and Estelle Lambert "Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study." <i>BMC Public Health</i> (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15248en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKolbe-Alexander, T. L., Conradie, J., & Lambert, E. V. (2013). Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study. BMC public health, 13(1), 1213.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Kolbe-Alexander, Tracy AU - Conradie, Jaco AU - Lambert, Estelle AB - BACKGROUND: The global increase in the prevalence of NCD's is accompanied by an increase in risk factors for these diseases such as insufficient physical activity and poor nutritional habits. The main aims of this research study were to determine the extent to which insufficient physical activity (PA) clustered with other risk factors for non-communicable disease (NCD) in employed persons undergoing health risk assessment, and whether these risk factors were associated with higher healthcare costs. METHODS: Employees from 68 companies voluntarily participated in worksite wellness days, that included an assessment of self-reported health behaviors and clinical measures, such as: blood pressure (BP), Body Mass Index (BMI), as well as total cholesterol concentrations from capillary blood samples. A risk-related age, 'Vitality Risk Age' was calculated for each participant using an algorithm that incorporated multiplicative pooled relative risks for all cause mortality associated with smoking, PA, fruit and vegetable intake, BMI, BP and cholesterol concentration. Healthcare cost data were obtained for employees (n = 2 789). RESULTS: Participants were 36+/-10years old and the most prevalent risk factors were insufficient PA (67%) and BMI[greater than or equal to]25 (62%). Employees who were insufficiently active also had a greater number of other NCD risk factors, compared to those meeting PA recommendations (chi2 = 43.55; p < 0.0001). Moreover, employees meeting PA guidelines had significantly fewer visits to their family doctor (GP) (2.5 versus 3.11; p < 0.001) than those who were insufficiently PA, which was associated with an average cost saving of ZAR100 per year (p < 0.01). Furthermore, for every additional year that the 'Vitality Risk Age' was greater than chronological age, there was a 3% increased likelihood of at least one additional visit to the doctor (OR = 1.03; 95% CI = 1.01 - 1.05). CONCLUSION: Physical inactivity was associated with clustering of risk factors for NCD in SA employees. Employees with lower BMI, better self-reported health status and readiness to change were more likely to meet the PA guidelines. These employees might therefore benefit from physical activity intervention programs that could result in improved risk profile and reduced healthcare expenditure. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1213 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Public Health LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study TI - Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15248 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15248
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1213
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKolbe-Alexander T, Conradie J, Lambert E. Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15248.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltden_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Human Biologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2013 Kolbe-Alexander et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceBMC Public Healthen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherClustering of risk factorsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPhysical activityen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealthcare expenditureen_ZA
dc.titleClustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease and healthcare expenditure in employees with private health insurance presenting for health risk appraisal: a cross-sectional studyen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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