The prevalence and associated risk factors of work-related cardiovascular disorders among healthcare workers in five reference hospitals in the city of Douala, Cameroon

Background: Recent investigations suggest that environmental, psychosocial, non-specific job stressors such as work overload, repetitive tasks, and shift work could have a negative influence on the cardiovascular systems of workers. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of work-related cardiovascular disorders (WRCVDs) among healthcare workers in five reference hospitals in the city of Douala, Cameroon.

Methods: A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 2019 to 2022 among 561 healthcare professionals working in the city of Douala, Cameroon. Participants were selected using a convenient sampling technique. Cardiovascular complaints and risk factors were explored through questions on the family history, and personal health profile of participants, body mass index together with information got from records of the automated blood pressure machine. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 for descriptive and inferential statistics, and excel 2019 for data coding, cleaning, filtering and sorting. Chi Square, Odd Ratios and Logistics regressions were used to examine associations and identify risk factors.

Results: The prevalence of WRCVDs for the last 12 months was 6.4% (36/562) among healthcare workers. Furthermore, self-reported data on symptoms and possible signs showed that in the last 12 months 38.9% (218/561) have had a family member diagnosed of at least one cardiovascular disorders. Proportions of 23.4% (131/561) and 29.8% (167/561) participants reported to have experienced discomfort in their left chest and shortness of breath respectively lasting for more than an hour in the previous six months. Also, 22.5% (126/561), 29.4% (165/561) and 3.9% (22/561) reported coldness of feet, palpitations and loss of consciousness respectively. This study also found that there was a significant association between specialty (0.044), institution of work (0.028) and the risk of having WRCVDs with the highest prevalence’s being the nursing profession 52.8% (19/561) and GHD 33.3% (12/561) respectively. It was further unveiled that secondary smoking is a significant predictor of having a work-related cardiovascular disorder (p = 0.009), all factors held constant. Age was significantly associated with WRCVDs (Chi2 =13.945, p <0.005).

Conclusion: The prevalence of WRCVDs among healthcare professionals was low in Douala hospitals. This study revealed interesting association between WRCVDs and demographics of the study participants with age and secondary smoking being significant predictors of WRCVDs.