Risk factors for the development of pre-stage heart failure in workers of the main occupations in the coal mining industry

Introduction. Heart failure remains in the leading positions in terms of the economic costs of treatment, reducing the quality of life and mortality in the population.Therefore it is necessary to elaborate comprehensive programs for its prevention in employable age, taking into account occupational risks.Materials and methods. The study included four hundred thirty two male employees in the main occupations of the coal mining industry, aged 40–55 years. The average age of the miners was 46.96 ± 0.91, and that of the coal mine workers was 46.90 ± 0.36 years, p=0.902. Echocardiography was performed using a Vivid E9 expert class device. The concentrations of the N-terminal fragment of the precursor of the brain natriuretic peptide and galectin-3 in blood serum were determined by solid-phase enzyme immunoassay.Results. The main contribution to the development of heart failure among traditional risk factors was arterial hypertension, the presence of which increased the chance of detecting heart failure by 4 times in miners (OR=3.73; 95% CI (2.15–6.48), p<0.0001) and 3 times in coal mining workers (OR=3.12; 95% DI (1.5–6.48), p<0.0001). In workers with underground working conditions, obesity increased the relative chance of detecting criteria for pre-stage heart failure by 3 times (OR=2.9; 95% CI (1.40–6.00), p=0.003), the association of obesity with sub-clinical heart dysfunction in coal open-cut colliery workers has not been established. Signs of pre-stage heart failure were detected more often in people over 47 years when compared with younger workers of coal mining enterprises.Limitations They are related to the duration and limitation of instrumental research methods in the process of conducting a preventive medical examination.Conclusion. Arterial hypertension and obesity in miners, including visceral obesity, turned out to be the leading traditional risk factors for developing heart failure in coal mining workers. The increase in the incidence of heart failure with age determines the need for an earlier onset of its prevention.Compliance with ethical standards. In accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (2013 edition), all subjects read and signed informed consent to participate in the study, the protocol of which met the requirements of the Bioethics Committee of the Research Institute for Complex Problems of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases (Protocol No. 4, §2 dated November 18, 2021).Contribution: Filimonov E.S. – concept and design of the study, statistical processing, writing the text; Korotenko O.Yu. – collection of material, writing the text; Rumpel O.A. – processing of laboratory assays, writing the text. All authors – approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.Funding. The study had no sponsorship.Received: April 21, 2025 / Accepted: June 26, 2025 / Published: August 20, 2025

coal mining enterprises, heart failure, risk factors, arterial hypertension