Researchers at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University have found that psychosocial stress, due to challenges in coping with challenging environments, can work synergistically to put women at a significantly higher risk for developing coronary heart disease (CHD). farm.
The study suggests that the effects of work stress and social stress on women have a powerful impact on health, and both are associated with a 21% higher risk of developing CHD. According to the study, stress occurs in the workplace when a woman has insufficient power to respond to the demands and expectations of the job.
Furthermore, the study found that high-stress life events, such as a divorce / separation or physical / verbal abuse, as well as social stress, were each independently linked to a 12% and 9% higher risk for CHD, respectively.
The Drexel study used data from a nationally representative sample of 80,825 postmenopausal women from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, which followed participants from 1991 to 2015, to find better methods to prevent cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis in women . In the current follow-up study, Drexel researchers evaluated the effects of psychosocial stress due to work stress, stressful life events, and social stress, as well as the association between these forms of stress on CHD, according to the study.
During the 14-year, 7-month study, nearly 5% of women developed CHD. High-stress life events were associated with an increased CHD risk of 12%, adjusted for age, time at work, and socioeconomic characteristics, and high social stress was associated with a 9% increased risk. for CHD; working stress, however, was not independently associated with CHD.
‘The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the continuing tension for women in the balance between paid work and social stress. We know from other studies that work pressure can play a role in the development of CHD, but now we can better determine the combined impact of stress at work and at home on these poor health outcomes, ” says senior author Yvonne Michael, ScD, SM , an associate professor at the Dornsife School of Public Health, in a press release. “My hope is that these findings call for better methods of monitoring stress in the workplace and remind us of the work that women with double burdens have because of their unpaid work as caregivers at home.”
The authors of the study note that future research should evaluate the effects of shift work on CHD and examine the effects of job requirements by gender.
“Our findings are a critical reminder to women and those who care that the threat of stress to human health should not be ignored,” said lead author Conglong Wang, PhD, a recent graduate of Dornsife, who led the research. did while in Drexel, said. , in the press release. “This is especially important during the stressors caused by a pandemic.”
REFERENCE
Drexel study suggests that stress from work and social interactions have a higher risk of heart disease. Drexel Nou. Published on April 9, 2021. Visited April 16, 2021. https://drexel.edu/now/archive/2021/April/Stress-from-Work-and-Social-Interactions-Put-Women-at-Higher-Risk- of coronary heart disease /