Relationship between job stress and plasma fibrinolytic activity in male Japanese workers

Abstract

Psychosocial job stress has been shown to be associated with the development of cardiovascular disease. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to elucidate whether marked job stress affects the parameters of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, such as plasma fibrinogen concentration, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) activities, in 213 middleaged male workers in a computer-producing factory. Job stress was measured using a Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) developed by Karasek. The mean t-PA activity in workers with lower and higher job demands was 0.23 and 0.18 IU/ml respectively, and this difference was significant (P < 0.05). The mean plasma fibrinogen in workers with lower and higher job decision latitude was 224.8 and 236.3 mg/dl respectively, and the mean PAI-1 activity in workers with lower and higher job strain was 14.9 and 17.7 U/ml respectively, though these differences remained at a borderline level of significance (0.05 < P < 0.10). Multiple regression analyses showed that the parameters of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis were closely associated with the cardiovascular risk factors of age, obesity, blood pressure, elevated serum lipids, and smoking, but that high job demands were significantly related to decreases in t-PA activity, independently of the traditional risk factors. These results suggest that psychosocial job stress may be related, at least partly, to the development of cardiovascular disease via changes in plasma fibrinolytic activity.

Job strain and risk indicators for cardiovascular disease in young female nurses.

“…In the studied nurses, orrd.y 8% rryere postmenopausal. Ho\ryever, in spite of their good health, large individual variation was found in all risk indicators, and some association with job strain should have emerged even in premoóid participants, as \ryas the case in men (Ishizaki et al, 1996. Netterstrgm et al, 1991Vrijkotte et al, 1999).…”

“…In the present study, a self-administered Dutch version of the Job Content Questionnaire (Karasek, Pieper, & Schwartz, 1985), originating from the Dutch Monitor of Stress and Physical Load, was used (Houtman, Goudswaard, et al, 1998 (Houtman, Goudswaard, et al, 1998 (Ishizaki et al, 1996. Netterstrgm et al, 1991Vrijkotte et al, 1999).…”

Job Demand and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor in White-collar Workers

“…Mental stress may be an important precipitant of myocardial ischemia 20,21) . Especially, workers with high tension were reported to have more risk of the diseases and health behavior such as drinking, smoking, eating behavior in many studies [22][23][24][25][26] .…”

The Influence of Work Characteristics on Body Mass Index and Waist to Hip Ratio in Japanese Employees

“…Overtime was associated with increased ambulatory blood pressure 10) . With regard to job stress measured by the job demand-control model 11) , job demand was related to decreased fibrinolytic activity 12) . Job strain, combined with high demand and low control, and low social support were found to be associated with increased glycosylated haemoglobin A1c 13) .…”