Japanese study links high-stress jobs to strokes

Source: Agencies  |   2009-1-14  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A JAPANESE study conducted over 11 years has found job stress can significantly increase the risk of stroke in men.

The study involved 3,190 men and 3,363 women, aged 65 and younger. They were first interviewed between 1992 and 1995 and then monitored over the next 11 years.

They came from a variety of occupational backgrounds and included managers, professionals, technicians, clerks, salespeople, farmers, craftsmen and laborers, and were classified into four groups.

Workers with low job demand and high job control were classified as "low strain." Those with high job demand and high job control were deemed to have an "active job." Those with low job demand and low job control were deemed to have a "passive job." But high job demand and low job control was deemed "high strain."

Over 11 years, 147 strokes occurred to 91 men and 56 women.

"Men with high strain jobs had a more than two-fold higher risk of total stroke than men with low-strain jobs," researchers wrote.

In woman, the difference was not considered statistically significant.