Work stress and cardiovascular disease: a life course perspective

Abstract

Individuals in employment experience stress at work, and numerous epidemiological studies have documented its negative health effects, particularly on cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although evidence on the various interrelationships between work stress and CVD has been accumulated, those observations have not yet been conceptualized in terms of a life course perspective. Using the chain of risk model, we would like to propose a theoretical model incorporating six steps: (1) work stress increases the risk of incident CVD in healthy workers. (2) Among those whose work ability is not fully and permanently damaged, work stress acts as a determinant of the process of return to work after CVD onset. (3) CVD patients experience higher work stress after return to work. (4) Work stress increases the risk of recurrent CVD in workers with prior CVD. (5) CVD patients who fully lose their work ability transit to disability retirement. (6) Disability retirees due to CVD have an elevated risk of CVD mortality. The life course perspective might facilitate an in-depth understanding of the diverse interrelationships between work stress and CVD, thereby leading to work stress management interventions at each period of the lifespan and three-level prevention of CVD.

Stress at intellectual work and cardiovascular diseases in women at non-mobility working age

“…The obtained results are consistent with those described in international literature, where it is estimated that the risk of CVDs occurrence is higher in workers exposed to stress at a workplace by about 10-40%, as opposed to workers among whom such a risk does not occur [13,14,15]. According to international research, stress at work does not only increase the risk of CVDs occurrence among workers, but -combined with low satisfaction from the performed work -is one of the main factors that decide about not returning to work after an illness [16,17,18,19].…”

Personality, lifestyle and job satisfaction: causal association between neuroticism and job satisfaction using Mendelian randomisation in the UK biobank cohort

“…On average, during the economically active period, individuals spend one third of their lifetime at work. Experiencing stress at the workplace is associated with increased all-cause mortality 1 and negative health effects, particularly cardiovascular disease 2 . In contrast, job satisfaction has been consistently shown to be associated with job performance and organisational citizenship behaviours, as employees who are satisfied with their jobs are the driving force for healthy and productive companies 3 .…”

Health-related quality of life and associated factors in patients with myocardial infarction after returning to work: a cross-sectional study

“…Even though several studies have been conducted on the HRQoL and work status of patients with MI after returning to work, further investigation of such a topic is still necessary. Firstly, the key factors contributed to the physical, psychological and social recovery of patients have not been explored, although physical and psychological issues (reasons for enhanced work pressure and social psychological barriers [25,26]) have been recorded among patients who returned to work after PCI [27]; secondly, reasons underlie the decline in quality of life of the patient have not been investigated. Given the chronic nature of MI, identifying the key factors related to the quality of life of patients with MI after returning to work, especially manageable factors through guidance and intervention are imperative.…”