MEDICAL SCHOOL EMPLOYEE HEALTH COMPARED TO STATE AND NATIONAL AVERAGES

Purpose (a): The 2012 Center for Disease Control (CDC) survey found 65.1% of Texans and 63.9% of U.S. citizens’ body mass index (BMI) is >25 indicating that most Americans are overweight or obese.1 Health data for medical school employees in comparison to state and national averages is scarce. Here, we examined the health status and behaviors of medical school employees to determine the influence of the health promotion environment. We hypothesized that medical school employees are healthier than the state and national averages. Methods (b): A prospective study was conducted to examine medical school employee health status and behaviors. Vital signs, weight, fat percentage, random serum glucose, exercise, and sleep were primary outcomes measured. Subjects completing the study received $1 compensation. Frequencies and chi-square analyses were performed using SPSS (version 19). A 95% confidence interval and an alpha of 0.05 were used to determine significance. Results (c): Sixty-nine employees volunteered to participate. We found that BMI (25.8 + 5.5) was slightly higher than the recommended range (18.5-24.9). Almost 45% of participants were slightly overweight edging towards obesity (BMI >25). Mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure was 125/79 mmHg (normal=120/80). Mean body fat % for men (17.2) was within the recommended range (15-20%), but was slightly higher for women (31.8 vs. 24-30%). However, these values are substantially lower than the national average (28.1 = men, 39.8 = women). Significant race/ethnicity differences in BMI were evident. Conclusions (d): Based on the recommended values and the state and national averages, these data suggest that medical school employees seem to have healthier physiology than the general population. Although prevalence of overweight and obesity in our sample is better than the state and national averages, these values are still higher than the recommended range. Working in a medical school environment may offer some protective factors, but more work is needed to reduce body weight. These preliminary data interpretations are limited due to a small sample size.