Smoking and hyperglycaemia in blue-collar workers in Lubelskie region in Poland

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Tobacco smoking is responsible for 5 million deaths annually, with a 29% share of cardiovascular reasons. Diabetes and pre-diabetes states are responsible for many cases of ischaemic heart disease. Among blue-collar workers, circadian misalignment may elevate total cardiovascular risk. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of data obtained by the National Health Fund from the Program for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Lublin Province in 2008–2018 was carried out; 26,226 visits were analyzed. The assessment included sociodemographic variables, data on nicotinism, and fasting glucose. The χ2 test was used to test the relationship between the 2 qualitative features, and the Pearson linear correlation for the quantitative features. The analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 25, with a significance level of α = 0.05 for 2-tailed tests. Results: Hyperglycaemia was observed in 14.07% of the research group, 1.37% of the whole group was diagnosed with glucose level ≥126 mg/dL; 54.34% of patients reported smoking history (n = 14,250). Current smokers constituted 33.04% of the study group (n = 8,665) and 21.30% of patients were past smokers (n = 5585). The mean age of smoking initiation was 24.68 years and the mean cigarettes use was 15.66. The correlation between the incidence of analyzed risk factors and age and sex was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Men and respondents of more advanced age have a higher burden of cardiovascular risk factors. The prevalence of smoking and hyperglycaemia in surveyed workers is relatively high. Therefore, blue-collar workers are a social group in needs of more extensive prophylaxis for cardiovascular diseases.