JOEM: Work-related Stress and Occurrence of Cardiovascular Disease (November 2022)-JOEM: Work-related Stress and Occurrence of Cardiovascular Disease (November 2022)

JOEM: Work-related Stress and Occurrence of Cardiovascular Disease (November 2022)

Pdf Summary

A 13-year prospective study conducted in Europe investigated the influence of work-related psychological and physical stresses on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study followed 5,651 CVD-free participants over the age of 50 and assessed work-related stress using a job strain and job reward questionnaire. The results showed that high physical demands and low rewards were associated with higher risk of incident CVD. Active physical jobs and high physical strain were also associated with increased risk of CVD compared to low physical strain. However, combining physically stressful jobs with low rewards did not further increase the risk of CVD. The study suggests that avoiding physically stressful jobs or providing appropriate rewards may help reduce the occurrence of CVD. Previous studies have focused more on behavioral and lifestyle factors as risk factors for CVD, such as smoking, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and alcohol consumption, but this study highlights the importance of work-related stress as a potential risk factor. The findings provide valuable insights for the development of prevention strategies targeting work-related stress to reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.

Keywords

prospective study

work-related stress

cardiovascular disease

CVD

job strain

job reward questionnaire

physical demands

low rewards

active physical jobs

risk factors