Psychosocial stressors at work may double heart disease risk for men
Key takeaways:
- Measures of job strain and effort-reward imbalance were tied to poor heart health for men.
- The impact of psychosocial stress at work on women’s health was inconclusive.
Data suggest psychosocial stressors at work, including job strain and effort-reward imbalance, independently raise CVD risk for men and could pose a risk for heart health in women, though that evidence remains inconclusive.
“Our study underscores the importance of addressing psychosocial factors in the workplace as potential contributors to coronary heart disease risk,” Mathilde Lavigne-Robichaud, RD, MSc, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology affiliated with the population health and optimal health practices research unit of CHU de Quebec-University Laval Research Center in Laval, Quebec, Canada, told Healio. “We found that imbalances between effort and reward at work, along with high psychological demands and low job control, may have significant implications for heart health. It's crucial to consider not only traditional risk factors but also the psychosocial aspects of a person's work environment.”
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Lavigne-Robichaud and colleagues analyzed data from 6,465 white-collar workers without CVD at baseline who were followed for a mean of 18 years (2000-2018) as part of the Prospective Quebec cohort (mean age, 45 years). Researchers measured job strain and effort-reward imbalance (ERI) via questionnaires. The job strain model categorized exposure into four quadrants: job strain (high demands, low control); passive jobs (low demands, low control); active jobs (high demands, high control); and low job strain (low demands, high control).
“The ERI model asserts that an imbalance between effort at work and rewards can be detrimental to health,” the researchers wrote. “Both models cover different dimensions of the psychosocial environment at work. Job strain focuses on task characteristics, whereas ERI focuses on broader socioeconomic conditions like salaries, promotion and job stability. Evidence support the separate and independent effects of these psychosocial stressors at work on CHD.”
The researchers accounted for CHD events via administrative databases. The findings were published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Among 3,118 men, 571 had a first CHD event. Among 3,347 women, 265 had a first CHD event.
For men, the researchers found that exposure to job strain or ERI was associated with a 49% increase in CHD risk (adjusted HR = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.07-2.09). Combined exposure to job strain and ERI was associated with a 103% increased risk for CHD (aHR = 2.03; 95% CI, 1.38-2.97). Results persisted after excluding early CHD cases and accounting for age.
“The estimated effect of either job strain or effort-reward imbalance, in men, was of comparable amplitude to that of several biomedical and lifestyle coronary heart disease risk factors,” the researchers wrote.
The impact of psychosocial stress at work on women’s health was inconclusive, the researchers wrote.
“Clinicians should be aware that workplace stressors can impact cardiovascular health,” Lavinge-Robichaud told Healio. “These stressors are not only highly prevalent but also represent long-term and modifiable factors that can significantly impact cardiovascular health. Identifying and mitigating these psychosocial stressors could be an important part of heart disease prevention and management.”
Reference:
- Job strain combined with high efforts and low reward doubled men’s heart disease risk. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/job-strain-combined-with-high-efforts-and-low-reward-doubled-mens-heart-disease-risk. Published on Sep. 19, 2023. Accessed on Sep. 19, 2023.
For more information:
Mathilde Lavigne-Robichaud, RD, MSc, can be reached at mathilde.lavigne-robichaud.1@ulaval.ca; X (Twitter): @lavigne1988.
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Lavigne-Robichaud M, et al. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2023;doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.122.009700.
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