Occupational stress, health-related behavior, and blood pressure: a 5-year follow-up

The association of occupational stress factors and health-related habits with blood pressure and blood pressure change over a 5-year follow-up was studied in 388 Finnish white-collar and blue-collar workers. The occupational stress factors consisted of noise level, discomfort due to noise, monotony, and self-suppression of opinion. Behavioral variables included the frequency of mild intoxication, leisure-time physical activity, cigarette smoking, relative weight, and change in weight. In the cross-sectional study, only relative weight was positively associated with both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure. For the prediction of blood pressure change, multiple linear regression showed that in the total sample none of the nine variables was a statistically significant predictor of systolic blood pressure change over the follow-up period. The change in weight was the most significant predictor (P less than 0.001) of diastolic blood pressure change, followed by intoxication (P less than 0.01). Further analyses by sex and occupational status showed that among female white-collar workers, intoxication was the strongest predictor of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure changes. In this group, the total model explained 34% of the variability in systolic and 27.7% in diastolic blood pressure change. In other groups and in the total sample, the proportions explained were markedly smaller. Also, in some subgroups, self-suppression, noise, and physical activity were significant predictors of blood pressure change. It is concluded that in comparison with reduction of weight, the other behavioral and stress factors studied seem to be of minor importance in the prevention of high blood pressure in normal populations, even if these factors may be relevant in some susceptible subpopulations or in populations whose exposure levels are extreme.