Excess workloads bring heart risks

Highly demanding jobs where workers feel they have little control over decision-making could raise their risk of heart attack by a quarter, according to academics.

Researchers from University College London analysed 13 existing European studies covering nearly 200,000 people. They found that “job strain” was linked to a 23% increased risk of heart attacks and deaths from coronary heart disease.

Work stress could occur in any occupation but was more common among lower skilled workers, according to the report in The Lancet medical journal.

Excessive workloads and a lack of decision-making influence were factors more likely to trigger job strain than simply being employed in a senior post, the researchers found.

At the beginning of each of the base studies, people were asked whether they had sufficient time to complete their work, as well as how much freedom they had to make decisions.

They were then divided into people with or without job strain, and followed for an average of seven-and-a-half years.

The negative effect of workplace strain was much smaller than the damage caused by smoking or lack of exercise, but work stress and lifestyle choices were often interlinked argued the academics.

The British Heart Foundation said how people chose to cope with workplace stress was significant.

“Though stresses at work may be unavoidable, how you deal with these pressures is important, and lighting up a cigarette is bad news for your heart,” advised Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the charity.

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/09/job-strain-raises-risk-of-heart-attack-study-finds.htm