Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in healthcare workers: a cohort study at a designated COVID-19 hospital in Taiwan

Chen Hsieh; Yung-Feng Yen; Chu-Chieh Chen; Yi-Chang Chou; Mei-Ju Chen

doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000003255

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in healthcare workers: a cohort study at a designated COVID-19 hospital in Taiwan

J Occup Environ Med. 2024 Oct 17. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003255. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chen Hsieh¹, Yung-Feng Yen, Chu-Chieh Chen², Yi-Chang Chou, Mei-Ju Chen

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Heping Fuyou Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Health Care Management, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.

PMID: 39419007
DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003255

Abstract

Objectives: This cohort study aimed to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of Metabolic syndrome (MetS) among healthcare workers at a dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Taiwan.

Methods: This study recruited 397 healthcare workers who completed health checkups before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The differences of MetS and its components prevalence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were compared using the paired samples t-tests for normally distributed variables, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for non-normally distributed variables.

Results: The prevalence of MetS among healthcare workers significantly increased from 20.9% to 28.7% during the pandemic (p < .001). Central obesity and hypertension were the primary contributors to the development of MetS.

Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increasing prevalence of MetS in healthcare workers, necessitating health-promoting measures to mitigate this risk.