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Longer working hours may increase stroke odds
Working more than 10 hours per day may lead to elevated risk for stroke, according to findings published in Stroke.
The findings also showed that the association between longer work hours and stroke was similar in men and women and was strongest in white-collar workers younger than 50 years.
Marc Fadel, MD, a resident at the occupational health unit at Paris Hospital in Versailles and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and colleagues investigated the association between long working hours and potential risk factors for stroke.
“The association between 10 years of long work hours and stroke seemed stronger for people under the age of 50,” Alexis Descatha, MD, PhD, a researcher at Paris Hospital in Versailles, Angers University, INSERM and co-author of the study, said in a press release. “This was unexpected. Further research is needed to explore this finding.”
The researchers examined the data from the French population-based CONSTANCES cohort to obtain information on age, sex, smoking and working hours from a baseline, self-administered questionnaire. CV risk factors and previous occurrence of stroke were taken from a parallel medical interview.
Fadel and colleagues interpreted long working hours as working more than 10 hours daily for at least 50 days annually.
Of the 143,592 participants in the study (49% women), the researchers found 0.9% had strokes, 29.6% reported long work hours and 10.1% reported long work hours for 10 or more years.
Fadel and colleagues found long work hours were associated with increased risk for stroke (adjusted OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.11-1.49).
Long work hours for 10 or more years had an even stronger association with stroke (aOR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.21-1.74), the researchers wrote.
“I would emphasize that many health care providers work much more than the definition of long working hours and may also be at higher risk of stroke,” Descatha said in the release. “As a clinician, I will advise my patients to work more efficiently and plan to follow my own advice.” – by Earl Holland Jr.
Disclosures: The authors reported no relevant financial disclosures.