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Work stress tied to type 2 diabetes risk
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Chinese adults are at elevated risk for type 2 diabetes when their work stress is increased and their coping resources are decreased, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.
Yulong Lian, PhD, of the division of occupational and environmental health, College of Public Health at Nantong University in China, and colleagues evaluated data from the Occupational Health Study of Petroleum Industry Workers on 3,740 Chinese adults (mean age, 38.3 years; 54% men) without diabetes to determine whether changing work stressors and coping resources affect the risk for type 2 diabetes. Data were collected in 2003 (baseline) and again in 2014 (follow-up).
Incident type 2 diabetes was significantly associated with increased task stressors (RR = 1.57; 95% CI, 1.03-2.63) and decreased coping resources (RR = 1.68; 95% CI, 1.02-2.83). However, the risk for type 2 diabetes was not associated with changes in organization stressors or change in job control. No differences were observed between men and women.
The risk for type 2 diabetes was increased in participants with increased role overload (RR = 2.25; 95% CI, 1.26-4.17), increased role insufficiency (RR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.08-2.85) and increased physical environment stressors (RR = 1.83; 95% CI, 1.1-3.01) compared with their counterparts. The risk for type 2 diabetes was also increased in adults with decreased self-care (RR = 2.06; 95% CI, 1.08-3.89) and decreased rational coping (RR = 2.27; 95% CI, 1.14-4.28) compared with their counterparts.
“This study shows that increased task stressors and decreased coping resources are independently associated with type 2 diabetes,” the researchers wrote. “Increased coping resources buffer the negative effect of these factors on type 2 diabetes. These findings pinpoint the effective preventive measures against adverse psychosocial work characteristics, especially regarding workload and physical environment in workplace diabetes prevention. Moreover, the findings suggest the importance of employers providing more coping resources, such as increased adherence to self-care and problem-focused coping strategies, to reduce the diabetes risk of employees who experience adverse work conditions in the petroleum industry.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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