[The longitudinal study of selected health indicators among gas company workers in Wrocław].
BACKGROUND
This paper concerns the health status of male employees of the gas company in Wroclaw. The aim of this study was to assess the age-related changes in the selected health indicators and their variability between individual groups representing different socio-economic status.


METHODS
The material comprised longitudinal observations of 8 years (1999-2007), concerning some parameters of the cardiovascular system, blood and BMI. The study included 148 men aged 29-57 years.


RESULTS
A rapidly increasing systolic blood pressure was observed in all categories of workers. It was higher in the inhabitants of Wroclaw, in persons with lower level of education and in manual workers. Similarly, BMI was also found higher; an average increase over 8 years was 2.0, and all of the analyzed groups showed overweight. This is particularly true for manual and less educated workers, who also had a greater number of leukocytes. Hemoglobin and hematocrit did not differ between the investigated categories of male employees.


CONCLUSIONS
The arithmetic means of analyzed traits in the investigated group of workers fell within the range of reference values (standard) and their age-related changes corresponded with those described in the literature. Thus, their health condition can be regarded as good.
Borysławski
Krzysztof
K
Zakład Antropologii, Instytut Biologii, Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu. k.boryslawski_xl@wp.pl
Pawłowska
Anna
A
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002617:Chemical Industry; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016272:Occupational Health; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D011044:Poland; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D017132:Workplace