Job Stress and Carotid Intima‐media Thickness in Chinese Workers

Abstract

Job Stress and Carotid Intima-media Thickness in Chinese Workers: Weixian XU, et al. Department of Cardiology, Peking University ThirdHospital and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Science, Ministry of Education, China-Objectives: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) can be used as a surrogate marker for cardiovascular health, and job stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, there have been a limited number of studies focusing on the association between job stress and CIMT. The goal of this study was to explore the association between job stress and CIMT in a Chinese working population. Methods: The study included 734 participants (508 males and 226 females) without coronary heart disease. Job stress was evaluated using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire at work. ERI is the ratio between efforts and rewards (weighted by number of items). High resolution carotid ultrasonographic studies were performed using a Sequoia 512 ultrasound system with an 8-13 MHz linear array transducer to assess CIMT. Results: This study detected gender-specific associations between the indictors of the ERI model and increased CIMT among the study participants in China. This study demonstrated a robust association in women between the key indicators of ERI, effort, overcommitment and ERI, and increased CIMT (adjusted r 2 =0.258, p=0.001; adjusted r 2 =0.261; p<0.001; adjusted r 2 =0.274; p<0.001, respectively). Reward was inversely correlated with CIMT (adjusted r 2 =0.282, p<0.001), controlling for age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia and body mass index. For men, a similar pattern of associations was observed, but the associations were lost after adjustment for confounders. Conclusions: Our resultsshow that effort, overcommitment and ERI may be associated with early atherosclerosis predicted by CIMT in women, and reward is inversely related to CIMT. (J Occup Health 2010; 52: 257-262)

Occupational stress and subclinical atherosclerosis: a systematic review

“…Eight studies found positive associations with WRS. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Jedryka-Gó ral et al reported a statistically significant inverse association between WRS and CIMT. 33 Fujishiro et al reported an association between CIMT and job control, but not with job strain (Table 3).…”

“…29,30 Conversely, two studies found a relationship between WRS and CIMT in females, but not males. 31,32 Differences in smoking, BMI, and hypertension across studies may explain these conflicting results. Genetic characteristics also appear to modify the association between WRS and CIMT.…”

“…In those that used the job strain model, the number of questions assessing demands ranged from two to five. 25,28,31,32 The calculation of stress scores also differed by study. Job strain was evaluated as a combination of decision latitude and job demands based on the median score of each characteristic in two studies, with the other studies either calculating job strain using a different formula or analyzing the subscales independently (Table 4).…”

“…29,30 Two other studies found the opposite to be true. 31,32 Differences in the WRS-CIMT association in males were found to be modified by a genetic factor. Men with the VAL/VAL catechol-O-methyl transferase allele had increased CIMT in relation to WRS, while those with either the MET/MET or MET/VAL allele did not.…”

The Relationship between Perceived Stress Scale and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Using Ultrasonography in University Students

“…CIMT can be used as a surrogate marker for in the study is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease [12]. However, there have been a limited number of studies focusing on the association between stress and CIMT.…”