Long Working Hours linked to Increased Risk of Stroke

The research included 25 studies from 24 cohorts in Europe, the USA, and Australia. Working 41 to 48 hours led to a 10 percent higher risk, while people who worked 49 to 54 hours had a 27 percent higher risk.

Researchers from University College London also discovered working less than 55 hours may also increase the risk, compared with people who worked the standard 35 to 40 hours a week.

Study author Mika Kivimaki, a professor of epidemiology, and her colleagues found a similar but more modest link between working long hours and an increased risk of coronary heart disease in a separate meta-analysis they conducted.

Researchers on Friday, August 21, revealed that working 55 hours or more per week, might be associated with greater risk of stroke and developing coronary heart disease, compared with working a standard 35 to 40 hours.

“We fully investigated the association between working hours and cardiovascular disease risk with greater precision than has previously been possible,” he said. Furthermore, those working for longer periods of time are more likely to develop heart disease.

In a nutshell, the longer work hours an individual spends at work, the higher his stroke risk will be.

The findings were consistent even after taking into account risk factors such as age, sex, and socioeconomic status.

Among developed countries, Janlert noted, Turkey has the highest proportion of individuals working more than 50 hours a week (43 percent), and the Netherlands the lowest (less than 1 percent).

The team found no evidence of reverse causation (ie, patients reducing their hours after having a stroke), and findings were unaffected by the extent of adjustment for confounding, the method of ascertaining outcomes and whether studies were published or unpublished. In the survey, full-time employees reported 47 average weekly work hours, which is nearly an extra day of work. The Los Angeles Times reports that if allowed to grow unchecked, the health risk can become a critical health emergency that results in lost work time, disability and even death, leaving families bereft of both a loved one and the much needed income that pays for their food, shelter and other necessities.