[Stressful work and heart do not get along well]
1Unité mixte Cohortes épidémiologiques en population, UMS 11 Inserm-UVSQ, France - Université René Descartes, Paris, France 16, avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94800 Villejuif, France.
Insights
Workplace stress is a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease. Occupational stress contributes to thousands of cases annually, highlighting the need for further research into its biological mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Occupational health
- Cardiology
- Psychosomatic medicine
Background:
- Workplace stress is recognized as an occupational risk factor, similar to noise, heat, and chemicals.
- Occupational stress can be conceptualized through models like Karasek's (job strain) and Siegrist's (effort-reward imbalance).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the established link between occupational stress and coronary heart disease.
- To highlight the public health impact of occupational stress in France.
- To identify gaps in understanding the biological mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on occupational stress and coronary heart disease.
- Analysis of data regarding attributable risk fraction and incident cases in France.
- Discussion of hypothesized biological pathways.
Main Results:
- Occupational stress is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.
- The attributable risk fraction for occupational stress is approximately 3.5%.
- This translates to an estimated 3,400-4,000 new cases of coronary heart disease annually in France.
Conclusions:
- Occupational stress significantly contributes to the incidence of coronary heart disease.
- While the link is established, the underlying biological mechanisms remain largely unknown.
- Further research is needed to elucidate these mechanisms for effective prevention strategies.
Abstract:
As other occupational risk factors, like noise, heat or some chemicals, stress at work may induce coronary heart disease. Occupational stress has several components and is usually measured using two different instruments: the Karasek model defines the job strain as the association between high constraints and low latitude at work, whereas the Siegrist model relies on the imbalance between efforts at work and rewards. It is now well established that occupational stress is an independent risk factor of coronary heart disease, the attributable risk fraction being about 3.5%, yielding some 3,400-4,000 incident cases each year in France. Several biological mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain how stress can induce coronary heart disease, but this remains largely unknown.
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