Impact of a hypertension management/health promotion program on commercial driver's license employees of a self-insured utility company.
OBJECTIVE
Federal regulations governing transportation safety disqualify commercial drivers with persistent uncontrolled hypertension. We sought to determine whether a hypertension management and health promotion program designed for commercial drivers improved blood pressure (BP) outcomes among drivers employed by a self-insured utility company.


METHODS
This retrospective study examined the employment-related medical examinations of 501 randomly selected commercial drivers for measurements of BP, height, and weight taken before and after the intervention.


RESULTS
After the program, significantly fewer employees had uncontrolled hypertension according to the Department of Transportation hypertension guidelines (17.2% vs 26.1%, P < 0.01). This improvement was consistent across subgroups defined by diabetes, obesity, and use of antihypertensive medication.


CONCLUSIONS
An education program improved control of BP among commercial drivers, improving their health and safety, and reducing the number at high risk of medical disqualification.
Harshman
Robert S
RS
Georgia Power/Southern Company, Atlanta, Ga, USA.
Richerson
Gerald T
GT
Hadker
Nandini
N
Greene
Beth L
BL
Brown
T Michelle
TM
Foster
Talia S
TS
Turner
Beverly H
BH
Skrepnek
Samantha H
SH
Doyle
Joseph J
JJ
D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003376:Counseling; D035082:Federal Government; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008004:Licensure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D016272:Occupational Health; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014186:Transportation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology