Occupation and blood pressure

Australian-born men in low-status occupations have, on average, higher blood pressures than those classified as professional or technical workers, according to the results of a national survey carried out by the National Heart Foundation and the Commonwealth Department of Health, Australia, in 1980. The expected correlations between age, alcohol consumption, body mass, and blood pressure were found. The association between occupation and blood pressure persisted after statistical adjustments for differences in age, obesity, and self-reported alcohol consumption. Though small, the differences in group averages are statistically significant, and suggest the potential for differences of cardiovascular morbidity for workers in different occupations. These findings are consistent with similar gradients in occupational mortality reported in Australia and elsewhere. It is likely that these effects are related to work, both through neuroendocrine stress mechanisms associated with certain job characteristics and through job-determined adverse health-related behaviour. The public health and preventive significance of such associations is stressed.