Stressful Jobs Heart Disease Risk For Women

Women who report having high work related stress have a 40 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and the need for surgical procedures to open blocked arteries, compared to those with low stress levels, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2010.

In addition, job insecurity – fear of losing one’s job – was associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, increased cholesterol and excess body weight. However, it’s not directly associated with heart attacks, stroke, invasive heart procedures or cardiovascular death, researchers said. 

The HSE website on work related stress says:

“ By the term work related stress we mean the process that arises where work demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s capacity and capability to cope. Think of this as ‘bad work’. It is a significant cause of illness and disease and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other indicators of organisational underperformance - including human error."

“Our study indicates that there are both immediate and long-term clinically documented cardiovascular health effects of job strain in women,” said Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., the study’s senior author and associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass. “Your job can positively and negatively affect health, making it important to pay attention to the stresses of your job as part of your total health package.”

Researchers analysed work related stress in 17,415 healthy women who participated in the landmark Women’s Health Study. 

The 40 percent higher risks for women who reported stress at work included heart attacks, ischemic strokes, coronary artery bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty and death. The increased risk of heart attack was about 88 percent, while the risk of bypass surgery or invasive procedure was about 43 percent.

“Women in jobs characterized by high demands and low control, as well as jobs with high demands but a high sense of control are at higher risk for heart disease long term,” said Natalie Slopen, Sc.D., lead researcher and a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child in Boston.

Previous research on the effects of job strain has focused on men and had a more restricted set of cardiovascular conditions. “From a public health perspective, it’s crucial for employers, potential patients, as well as government and hospitals entities to monitor perceived employee job strain and initiate programs to alleviate job strain and perhaps positively impact prevention of heart disease,” Albert said.

Source: American Heart Association

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