Prospective study of job stress and risk of infections in Swedish adults

Abstract

ObjectivesPsychological stress may influence both susceptibility and severity of infections. Although work-related stress is a widespread concern among many employees, few studies have been conducted with the focus on work stressors and infections. We therefore aimed to investigate this association in a prospective cohort study.MethodsOur study included 25 029 employed individuals who filled-out a questionnaire in September 1997 and were followed through record linkages until retirement or December 2016. Work stress was assessed at baseline using a Swedish version of the Demand-Control Questionnaire, whereas hospital contacts related to infections were identified from the National Patient Register. We fitted extensions of the standard Cox model to account for recurrent infections.ResultsIn total, we observed 8257 infections. Individuals in the third tertile of job demand had a 13% higher hazard of infections (HR=1.13; 95% CI=1.03 to 1.24) compared with individuals in the first tertile, specifically an increased incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (HR=1.15; 95% CI=1.00 to 1.33) and urinary tract infections (HR=1.31; 95% CI=1.09 to 1.57) was found. Employees with the highest job control (third tertile) had no lower risk of infections than individuals in the lowest tertile (HR=1.02; 95% CI=0.92 to 1.13). When combining the demand and control dimensions into job strain scale, no association between high job strain and infections was observed (HR=1.08; 95% CI=0.97 to 1.21).ConclusionHigh job demand, but not low job control, is associated with an increased occurrence of infections. No difference was observed in workers with high strain jobs compared with those with low strain jobs.

Measuring job stress of dental workers in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: reliability and validity of the hospital consultants’ job stress questionnaire

“…It is exhilarating that there are many methods to assess the level of job stress among medical workers. However, some stress scales contain only one item without considering that the concept of job stress consists of multiple dimensions [ 19 ], and some stress scales are universal and not applicable to medical workers [ 20 ]. The Hospital Consultants’ Job Stress Questionnaire (HCJSQ), crafted by scholar Teasdale, is a 25-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the level and sources of job stress among medical workers [ 21 ].…”

Job strain, occupation, and bladder health among women

“…Job strain, like other stressors that are chronic in nature, may cause cumulative damage to biological systems through psychological stress responses 6 . In samples of women or men and women combined, job strain or its individual components are associated with poorer cardiovascular outcomes, 7 musculoskeletal symptoms, 8 irritable bowel syndrome, 9 poorer mental health, 10 health risk behaviors, 11 obesity, 12 diabetes, 13 and upper respiratory tract infections 14 . A literature search yielded no studies that have examined job strain in relation to bladder health.…”