The Working Well Trial: baseline dietary and smoking behaviors of employees and related worksite characteristics. The Working Well Research Group.
BACKGROUND
The Working Well Trial, the largest randomized worksite health promotion trial to date, tests the effects of cancer prevention and control interventions on dietary and smoking behaviors of employees and the worksite environment. The trial is a 5-year cooperative agreement conducted in 57 matched pairs of worksites in 16 states by four study centers, a coordinating center, and the National Cancer Institute. The dual aims of this paper are to: (a) present a baseline description of the dietary and smoking habits of 20,801 employees, who are predominantly blue-collar workers; and (b) describe the social and physical environments of their worksites that may facilitate or hinder health behavior changes.


METHODS
The self-administered baseline survey of individuals consisted of a core set of questions common across all study centers on diet and smoking. The organizational survey consisted of eight instruments administered via interviews with key informants in each worksite. Continuous variable were analyzed by a mixed linear model and binary data were analyzed by the Generalized Estimating Equation.


RESULTS
The population represented is largely male (67.5%) and blue collar (53.5%). Mean levels of fat and fiber intakes were close to the national averages (36.6% of calories as fat and 13.1 g of fiber). Smoking prevalence (25.2%) was slightly lower than the national average. The worksites had a high level of health promotion activities (42% had nutrition programs, 53% had smoking control programs), but lacked environmental support for dietary behavior change and perceived support for smoking cessation.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings replicate and extend previous research results to a large sample of diverse, largely blue-collar worksites. In addition the baseline results lay a foundation for the development of new insights into the relationship between individual and organizational level variables that may interact to influence behavioral and cultural norms.
Heimendinger
J
J
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Feng
Z
Z
Emmons
K
K
Stoddard
A
A
Kinne
S
S
Biener
L
L
Sorensen
G
G
Abrams
D
D
Varnes
J
J
Boutwell
B
B
D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D016134:Organizational Policy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D017132:Workplace