Work-site cardiovascular risk reduction : a randomized trial of health risk assessment, education, counseling, and incentives.

The objective of this study is to report an efficiacy trial of four work-site health promotion programs. It was predicted that strategies making use of behavioral counseling would produce a greater reduction in cardiovascular disease risk factors than screening and educational strategies. Twenty-eight work sites were randomly allocated to a health risk assessment, risk factor education, behavioral counseling, or behavioral counseling plus incentives intervention. Participants were assessed before the intervention and at 3, 6, and 12 months. The conclusion of this study is that work-site interventions that use behavioral appraoches can produce lasting changes in some cardiovascular risk factors and, if implemented routinely, can have a significant public health impact.