Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Nurses at a Teaching Hospital

Introduction Cardiovascular diseases [CVDs] are responsible for a large number of deaths, sick leave, and early retirements, especially among health professionals, who are constantly exposed to physical and emotional stress.

To identify the prevalence of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors related to CVDs in the nursing team of a tertiary hospital in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

This is a prospective-analytical epidemiological study, of a quantitative nature, conducted on 226 employees, in two stages: collection of self-declared data and measurement of anthropometric data.

Risk factors such as family history of CVD (82.7%), alcoholism (57.1%), sedentary lifestyle (49.1%), insufficient sleep time (27.9%), high consumption of processed meals (98.2%) and sugary beverages (81.7%) were observed, among others. From anthropometric data, it was identified that 69.4% of participants were overweight (38.7%) or obese (30.6%) - evidenced by high waist circumference (48.6%) and a high waist-to-hip ratio (64.0%) - in addition to 17.1% who had blood pressure levels indicative of arterial hypertension. The majority reported not having been diagnosed with CVDs (76.1%), however, among those who did, more than half (53.7%) did not treat them properly.

It was observed that the prevalence of CVDs is not irrelevant in the group evaluated and that there are risk factors indicating a tendency for participants to develop new CVDs or aggravate existing ones - due to the presence of harmful habits associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and lack of adherence to treatments. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding. Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Ethics committee/IRB of Faculdade de Medicina de Sao Jose do Rio Preto (FAMERP) gave ethical approval for this work - Report number: 5.671.736. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Footnotes This version includes substantial updates to improve the scientific rigor and clarity of the manuscript. The Introduction was expanded to include recent literature and contextual data on cardiovascular risk among healthcare professionals. The Methods section now describes additional statistical analyses, including tests for normality, Chi-square comparisons, and a multivariate logistic regression model identifying independent predictors of elevated blood pressure. The Results were refined to incorporate these analyses and to better present statistically significant findings. The Discussion was rewritten for greater depth and integration with national and international data, and a dedicated Limitations paragraph was added to address methodological constraints. Minor stylistic and structural edits were also made to improve readability and coherence. Data Availability All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors. ABBREVIATIONS - AC - abdominal circumference - AMI - acute myocardial infarction - BMI - body mass index - BP - blood pressure - CAD - coronary artery disease - CI95% - 95% confidence interval - CVA - cerebrovascular accident - CVD - cardiovascular disease - DBP - diastolic blood pressure - HbA1c - hemoglobin A1C - HC - hip circumference - HF - heart failure - HR - heart rate - LDL - low-density lipoprotein - MAP - mean arterial pressure - OR - odds ratio - SBP - systolic blood pressure - SUS - Sistema Único de Saúde - TSC - total serum cholesterol - WHR - waist-to-hip ratio