Abstract

Metabolic syndrome, marked by high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, obesity, and dyslipidemia, increases the risk of non-communicable diseases. Office workers are especially vulnerable due to sedentary environments, high stress, and limited access to health promotion resources. This vulnerability illustrates the importance of tailored health interventions. This study aimed to design, implement, and evaluate a healthy lifestyle education intervention aiming to reduce metabolic syndrome risk among office workers in Ethiopia, focusing on diet, physical activity, smoking cessation, alcohol moderation, and stress management.

The intervention was designed and implemented over nine months among 226 bank workers in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed at six months using a mixed-methods approach, and the implementation process at the end of the intervention, both using established frameworks.

The intervention group exhibited significant reductions in risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome and improvements in knowledge and healthy lifestyle practices, along with high feasibility and acceptability. Specifically, waist circumference decreased by 5.33 cm, systolic blood pressure by 6.96 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure by 4.21 mmHg, total cholesterol by 34.12 mg/dl, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 20.68 mg/dl, with all p-values being less than 0.0001. Moreover, the intervention group experienced a notable increase in knowledge scores of 7.29 points compared to a mere 0.32 points in the control group, fruit portions increased by 0.47 in the intervention group, contrasting with a reduction of 0.53 in controls, while vegetable portions rose by 0.43 in the intervention group compared to a decline of 0.90 in controls.

The process evaluation showed high fidelity in most components and identified contextual factors impacting the implementation of workplace health interventions. The findings indicate that the education intervention effectively prevents metabolic syndrome and promotes healthy behaviours among Ethiopian office workers. However, unsupportive workplace environments and organisational and local cultures hinder implementation. Establishing a health-promoting workplace is crucial for overcoming these challenges and ensuring the success of future programs.

Speaker

Sitotaw Bogale, a PhD candidate in the Department of Applied Epidemiology, is supervised by Dr Matthew and Dr Sarma. With a background in adult health nursing, his current research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a workplace healthy lifestyle education intervention aimed at reducing metabolic risk among office workers in Ethiopia. Additionally, he has contributed to research across cancer, mental health, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). His professional experience also includes serving as a lecturer at multiple universities in Ethiopia, where he has promoted health education and community services.