Author/Authors :
Araban Marzieh نويسنده 1Department of Health Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran , Amani Reza نويسنده , Hassani Bahar نويسنده Department of Nutrition, Jundishapur University of Medical
Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran , Haghighizadeh Mohammad Hussein نويسنده Deptartment of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of
Public Health, Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz,
Iran
Abstract :
Background One of the most important non-communicable diseases
(NCDs) is cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVDs caused an increase in
treatment costs and sick-leave hours in employees. These diseases are
originated from unhealthy behaviors. Education and training health
behaviors are a necessity in the workplace. Worksites that are
exclusively situated to provide interventional education would
effectively reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in employees.
Petrochemical industries are regarded as the key industry and improving
the working conditions leads to employees’ satisfaction and remarkable
productivity levels. Objectives The current study was aimed at
investigating the impacts of the theory of planned behavior (TPB)-based
nutritional education on the risk factors of CVD in the employees of
petrochemical companies. Methods The current study was a randomized
controlled field trial. The subjects were male employees aged 30 to 60
years, with at least 3 years of work experience. The employees had at
least one type of blood lipid abnormalities according to their medical
checkups. One hundred and four participants were randomly selected and
divided into 2 groups of intervention and control. Educational program
was performed in 5 educational sessions. Individuals’ data were
collected before and 3 months after the intervention using demographic,
TPB questionnaires and serum lipid profiles. Results Totally, 92
participants were included in the study: 49 participants in the
intervention group with the mean age of 42.30 ± 9.13 years, and 43 in
the control group with the mean age of 43.18 ± 8.75 years. Significant
differences between the scores of knowledge and other items of TPB model
as well as nutritional indices were observed in the intervention group
after 3 months (P value < 0.05). The mean serum levels of
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) reduced significantly, after the
intervention (P value < 0.05). Improvements in serum cholesterol
(intragroup) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)
(intergroup) levels were near-significant post-intervention group (P
value < 0.06). Conclusions Tailored nutrition education program
was effective in improving of nutritional behaviors and serum level of
LDL-C in the employees of the petrochemical companies.
