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08/01/2012

Job Stress Raises Women's Heart Attack Risk

A stressful job can have serious consequences for heart health, according to a
new study.

U.S. women who rated their job strain as high were 67 percent more likely to
have a heart attack, and 38 percent more likely to experience a stroke or high
blood pressure, compared with women who said their job strain was low.

The researchers said that the study confirmed what others have previously
found: stress at work has important implications for health.

However, the new study - published in PLOS ONE Journal Information - also
showed that having control over one's job made less difference than previous
research has suggested.

This 10 year prospective study of female health professionals revealed that
women with active jobs (high demand, high control) and high strain (high
demand, low control) were 38% more likely to experience a first Cardiovascular
Disease (CVD) event relative to women reporting low job strain, adjusting age,
race, study drug randomization, education, and income. In a sub-analysis that
included women with complete data on a broader range of covariates, the
association between high strain and CVD was not significant after adjustment
for SES and traditional coronary risk factors, whereas women with active jobs
were 50% more likely to experience a CVD event even after adjustment for these
factors. These results suggest that women with high strain and active jobs
potentially experience long-term vascular effects where high demand appears to
be the critical factor. Job insecurity did not predict incident CVD, but was
cross-sectionally associated with risk factors for CVD including smoking,
physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and BMI in
bivariate analyses.

More info


AplusA-online.de - Source: PLOS ONE Journal Information