Risk factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases in the coal industry workers

Introduction. Obesity and cardiovascular diseases are closely related and have a high prevalence in the global population. Workers of coal mining enterprises have an increased risk of developing these pathological conditions due to working conditions and employment schedules. Social and household factors and an unhealthy lifestyle can have a negative impact on metabolic processes that lead to obesity. In this regard, the search for risk factors for these diseases and the elaboration of a prevention system based on them to preserve the health of working groups of the population are relevant.

Materials and methods. The study involved three hundred eighty-five workers of coal enterprises in the South of Kuzbass including 244 miners and 141 coal pit workers. The mean age was 46.35±0.34 and 46.98±0.36 years, respectively, p=0.231. The social and household aspects and lifestyle of the workers were revealed by the questionnaire method. Ultrasound investigation of vessels was performed on the General Electric Vivid E9 system.

Results. The prevalence of atherosclerosis in obese workers employed in coal pits was higher than in persons with normal weight: 58.8% vs. 40.0%, p=0.035; no such pattern was found among miners. In coal pit workers with arterial hypertension, abdominal obesity was detected in 90.9% of the cases and in 67.0% (p=0.0004) in underground miners. The studied social and household factors, except for hypodynamia, had no a significant impact on the development of obesity.

Limitations. The investigation did not include individuals with proven familial hypercholesterolemia, inflammatory vascular diseases and diabetes mellitus.

Conclusion. Constitutional obesity increased the atherosclerosis risk in coal pit workers and did not affect on its prevalence in underground miners. Abdominal obesity did not contribute to an increase in the prevalence of atherosclerosis among the examined subjects, but increased the risk of arterial hypertension. Among the studied social and household factors, a significant role in the development of constitutional obesity in coal pit workers is rendered by hypodynamia during non-working hours.

Compliance with ethical standards. All subjects signed an informed consent to participate in the study, the protocol of which corresponded to the requirements of the bioethical committee of the Research Institute for Complex Problems of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases, executed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association “Ethical principles for conducting scientific medical researches involving humans” as amended in 2013 and the “Rules of Clinical Practice in the Russian Federation”, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 266 dated 19.06.2003.

Contribution:
Filimonov E.S. — the concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, statistical processing, writing a text;
Korotenko O.Yu. — collection of material, writing a text;
Ulanova E.V. — collection of material, writing a text;
Tapeshkina N.V. — collection of material, writing a text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version. 

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: March 17, 2022 / Accepted: June 08, 2022 / Published: July 31, 2022