Work stress may affect heart health later in life

Dallas — Work-related stress could put you on a path to cardiovascular problems in the future, results of a recent study suggest.

A team of researchers analyzed data from nearly 3,600 people ages 45-84. Cardiovascular health was determined based on seven metrics: smoking, physical activity, body mass index, diet, total cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. Each was scored on a scale from 0 to 14 points, with 0-2 points being “poor.”

Participants who experienced work-related stress – assessed via a questionnaire – were 25% and 27% less likely to have an average (nine-10 points) or optimal (11-14) cardiovascular health score, respectively, than people who didn’t report work-related stress.

“To address the public health issue of work-related stress and its detrimental effects on cardiovascular health, future research should prioritize the use of longitudinal studies to identify the mechanisms underlying this association,” study co-authors Oluseye Ogunmoroti of Emory University and Erin Michos of Johns Hopkins University, both physicians, said in a press release. “Additionally, conducting thorough workplace intervention studies is essential for the development and implementation of effective stress management strategies that can enhance employee well-being and improve cardiovascular health.”

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.