Here`s how your stressful job may kill you

A team of researchers presented new analysis of previously conducted research which showed that people who have high-stress jobs are at higher risk of stroke. Xu categorized them depending on how much control a person had over their occupation, how hard they worked, and the physical demands of the job, such as time pressure, mental load, and coordination burdens.

To explore job stress and stroke risk in more depth, Xu and colleagues analyzed the previous half dozen studies on the topic involving more than 138,000 participants who were followed for periods ranging from three to 17 years.

Jobs were classified into four groups for the study based on how much control workers had over their jobs and the psychological demands of the job.

In the six studies, the proportion of those with high-stress jobs ranged from 11 per cent to 27 per cent of the participants. High-stress jobs, meanwhile, included nurses and waitresses due to the high level of effort and low levels of control these jobs involved.

Looking at reported job stress, the study found that jobs with high demand and little situational control, such as waitressing, may be more stressful than jobs with high demand and high situational control, such as teaching.

Up to one in four jobs are “high strain”, and people in these lines of work may be at increased risk of stroke, according to a new analysis of past research.

Research from the past 20 years has already made the connection between high-stress jobs and heart disease, even after controlling for social class, wrote Dr. Jennifer Majersik of University of Utah Health Care in an editorial that accompanies Xu’s study.

“If your job is stressful, be mindful of your blood pressure, eat healthy, and get exercise”, says Dr. Katzan.

Limitations of the study include that job stress was measured at only one point in time and certain factors, such as high blood pressure, were not adequately adjusted for in the original studies. Physical labour and total number of hours worked were not taken into account.

Active categories displaying high demand and control, such as doctors, engineers and teachers, didn’t experience an elevated risk, according to study authors. Examples of such jobs include working as waiters and nursing aides, whereas examples of low-stress jobs include working as natural scientists and architects.

Researchers found that participants who came under other work categories did not have any increased risk of stroke.

People in passive and active jobs did not have any increased risk of stroke.

Women were found to be at greatest risk. The authors suggest that cardiovascular risk factors common to people in high-stress jobs, such as metabolic disorders, high body mass index (BMI) or impaired glucose metabolism could contribute, or that neuroendocrine perturbations might lead to an inflammatory response, destabilizing atherosclerotic plaques. If effective, such workplace changes could have a major public health impact’.

“Based on this study, it is reasonable to consider testing interventions aimed at increasing job control, such as decentralization of decision-making and flexibility in job structure, such as telecommuting”.