Are Police Personnel in Puducherry Healthy? Findings from “Partners in Prevention” Programme in Puducherry, India

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases are reported to be high in police force, which constitute a special occupational group. “Partners in Prevention” was a special surveillance activity carried out among the personnel of the Department of Police, Government of Puducherry by JIPMER, Puducherry. The present study reports the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and other cardiovascular risk factors in this group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The design was cross-sectional analytical study covering 1618 policemen during 2013–15. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for collecting data. Anthropometric and biochemical measurements were carried out using standard techniques. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) consensus worldwide definition. Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM- SPSS 21 software. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the participants was 45.7 (10.1) years. Majority (90%) of the participants were males and were in the age group of 30–59 years. Metabolic syndrome was observed in two-fifth (42%) of the study population. We found the prevalence as: hypertension (45.2%), abnormal HDL levels (62.3%), diabetes (34.7.1%), and high body mass index of >=25 kg/m(2) (60.5%). CONCLUSION: Our study identified that police personnel were having high CVDs and risk factors. It calls for an urgent need to initiate screening and secondary prevention programmes.