Long Working Hours Can Raise Hypertension Risk By 29%

Featured Article
Main Category: Hypertension
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Public Health
Article Date: 29 Aug 2006 - 14:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

If you work more than 51 hours each week you should be aware that your chances of developing hypertension are 29% higher, when compared to someone who works up to 39 hours a week, according to scientists from the University of California in Irvine, USA.

(Hypertension = High blood pressure)

You can read about this study in the journal Hypertension.

Americans work more hours per week than the Japanese do. In Japan they have a term, Karoshi, which means dying suddenly as a result of working too much.

In this study, researchers studied data on 24,305 Californian citizens who worked more than 11 hours per week. They used data from the Public Use File of the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. After making adjustments for socioeconomic status and body weight, the study found there was a strong link between hypertension prevalence and more hours worked - the more hours a person worked each week, the higher his/her hypertension risk was.

When compared to people who work up to 39 hours per week, a person working 40 hours had a 14% increased risk of suffering from hypertension. The risk increased in parallel with extra hours worked, reaching 29% for a 51-hour-week.

They also found that challenging and mentally stimulating jobs tended to protect people from developing hypertension. Those with highest risks of suffering from high blood pressure as a result o doing many hours were clerical and unskilled workers.

The USA is the only developed country which does not have legal restrictions on the number of hours a person can work each week.

Work Hours and Self-Reported Hypertension Among Working People in California
Haiou Yang; Peter L. Schnall; Maritza Jauregui; Ta-Chen Su; and Dean Baker
Hypertension 2006, doi:10.1161/01.HYP.0000238327.41911.52
Click Here To View Abstract Online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today