Usefulness of the corporate wellness projects in primary prevention at the population level: a study on the prevalence, awareness, and control of hypertension in the Ferrari company

The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence, awareness, and control of hypertension in an apparently healthy company population. We conducted a cross-sectional study on a total sample of 2058 individuals with a mean age of 38 ± 9 years, enrolled for the first time to the Ferrari corporate wellness program “Formula Benessere”. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) level ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP (DBP) ≥90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive medication, whereas BP control was defined as BP level <130/80 mmHg. All 2058 participants were divided into three groups based on age: Group 1 aged <40 years (n = 1177, 57%), Group 2 aged 40–50 years (n = 627, 30%), and Group 3 aged >50 years (n = 254, 13%). Four-hundred and one subjects had BP levels ≥130/80 mmHg (19.5%). Two-hundred and sixty-one individuals (12.7%) had high-normal BP values and 140 subjects had rest SBP ≥140 mmHg and/or DBP ≥90 mmHg (6,8%), of which 41 (29.3%) with grade 2 hypertension. In the overall population, 259 individuals (12.5%) were affected by hypertension, the prevalence increasing with age. Only a minority (51%) was aware of being hypertensive and already treated with antihypertensive medications (45.9%). An adequate BP control was achieved in only 57% of subjects who received BP-lowering therapy. Corporate wellness programs may represent an essential tool in identifying apparently healthy subjects with an inadequate control of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, such as hypertension. These preventive programs in the workplace may help to improve and spread primary CV prevention at the population level.