The prevalence of chronic conditions associated with modifiable health risk factors in corporate employees in South Africa

Abstract

The Sunday Times Discovery Healthiest Company Index Survey collected a dataset of 13 578 responses from corporate employees in 101 companies. This dataset has been used to assess the prevalence of self-reported modifiable health-risk factors and the association with chronic conditions. The analysis indicates that there is a greater likelihood of an individual reporting a chronic condition where their lifestyle risk factors are outside of the healthy range. This suggests that there are opportunities to manage the costs of health insurance, medical expenses and productivity losses by applying risk management tools aimed at addressing modifiable risk factors. KEYWORDS: Chronic condition, disease management programme, modifiable health risk factors