The Lucent-Takes-Heart Cardiovascular Health Management Program

This prospective, pre- and post-evaluation of a worksite cardiovascular health management program consisted of employee education, measurement of cardiovascular risk factors, and onsite individual counseling for all employees, along with follow up screening for high risk participants. Of 1,099 employees (16.4% of those eligible) who participated in the initial screening, 596 (54.2%) were classified as high risk. A total of 167 (28.0%) high risk participants completed the 6 month follow up screening. Most high risk participants in the 6 month follow up screening reported they had increased their exercise (64.7%), improved their diet (71.3%), and visited a physician (61.7%). A minority of the participants (16.8%) began new cardiovascular medications, and 2.4% were diagnosed with diabetes. In addition, there were statistically significant decreases in the percentages of participants with elevated systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein ratio. Almost all (99.7%) of the 909 participants (82.7% of all participants) who completed the satisfaction survey were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall program. Screening in the workplace can identify individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease. In this study, more than half of the participants were classified as high risk. Most high risk individuals who attended the 6 month follow up screening had improved their cardiovascular health, but attrition remains a challenge for worksite programs.