Nurses exposed to high work pressure show a significantly higher risk of heart
disease. The effect of work pressure and job influence on the 15-year incidence
of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in women participating in the Danish Nurse
Cohort Study was prospectively studied. A total of 12?116 participants, aged
4564 years, were examined in 1993 using a questionnaire and were followed by
individual linkage in the National Register of Hospital Discharges to the
beginning of 2008. The study shows that work pressure that was self-reported as
being too high significantly increases the risk of IHD in younger female nurses.

This study adds to the previous body of evidence suggesting harmful effects of
excessive psychological demands at work on cardiac health, but is one among
very few that demonstrates the effect among women. The authors concluded that
results should be taken into account in primary prevention and additional work
should be carried out to identify factors contributing to the perceived high
work pressure.

More information

AplusA-online.de - Source: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work