High stress jobs increase stroke risk in women, says study
Posted on: 16/Oct/2015 10:36:28 AM
A study published in the journal Neurology has said that high stress jobs can increase risk of strokes in women. The study was conducted by researchers at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou in China.
138, 782 participants were involved in the study. These were studied over a period of 17 years. The participants jobs were classified into 4 groups. These groups were based the level of control they had over their jobs, how hard they worked and the psychological demands (time pressure, mental load and coordination burdens) of the job. Passive jobs were those that had low demand and low control like janitors and miners. Low stress jobs were those of natural scientists and architects that had low demand and high control. High stress jobs were those that had high demand and low control, typically the service industry. Active jobs were those of doctors, teachers and engineers that had high demand and high control.
The results showed that women who had high stress jobs were 33% more prone to strokes. Having a lot of job stress has been linked to heart disease, but studies on job stress and stroke have shown inconsistent results. It`s possible that high stress jobs lead to more unhealthy behaviours, such as poor eating habits, smoking and a lack of exercise, said one of the researchers.
