[Chronic occupational stress and the cardiovascular risk in teachers]

Age changes in arterial pressure (AP) and incidence of arterial hypertension (AH), as well as probability of developing IHD, were compared between school teachers and a control group sustaining no excessive occupational stress. The investigated teachers, numbering 168, were from Sofia public schools and technical schools. The control group consisted of 103 women: office employees, designers, research workers, etc. Findings indicated teachers to have a closer age relationship to AP level, compared to controls. Considerable increase in systolic AP was observed after 45 years of age, and there was a significant difference between the first and the second halves of the 4th decade. Diastolic AP was also higher in teachers than in controls. Duration of teaching experience proved to be strongly correlated with systolic and diastolic AP levels (r = 0.56, p < 0.001; and r = 0.50, p < 0.001). Beyond 40 years of age, teachers showed a high incidence of AH, 31%. The group as a whole was at high cardiovascular risk.