CSX Health & Wellness Program Finds Attentive Audience at American Heart Association Annual Conference

Every year, the American Heart Association conference in Washington, DC draws some of the sharpest minds from the most prestigious institutions, like The Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, to present the latest advances in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Employees who participated in the programs showed overall decreases in cholesterol, blood pressure, cardiovascular-related claims and hospital claims.

This year, CSX Health & Wellness was represented by Kenneth Glover, (Director, Health & Wellness and Ergonomics) and Thomas J. Neilson, (Chief Medical Officer), who, along with a researcher from Pfizer, presented, "Impact of an Employee Health Promotion Program on Cardiovascular Goal Attainment and Cardiovascular Related Medical and Hospital Claims," which detailed a preliminary mini-study of the health outcomes of nearly 5,800 employees from 2006 to 2008.

These employees, who participated in the CSX Health & Wellness exercise, diet, and health screening programs, showed an average decrease in total cholesterol from 196 to 185, with an improvement from 48 percent to 62 percent of participants reaching their low density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad cholesterol" numbers.

Average blood pressure dropped from 137/86 to 125/80, and there were slight declines in non-fasting blood-glucose levels among diabetics.

From the beginning to the end of the study period, cardiovascular-related claims dropped from 56 percent of employees to 48 percent of employees filing, and hospital claims dropped from 6 percent to 4.3 percent.

Within the two years of the study, participation nearly doubled.