Current employment status, occupational category, occupational hazard exposure and job stress in relation to telomere length: the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Abstract

Objective Telomere length has been proposed as a biomarker of cell senescence, which is associated with a wide array of adverse health outcomes. While work is a major determinant of health, few studies have investigated the association of telomere length with various dimensions of occupation. Accelerated cellular aging could be a common pathway linking occupational exposure to several health outcomes. Methods Leukocyte telomere length was assessed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) in a community-based sample of 981 individuals (age: 45–84 years old). Questionnaires were used to collect information on current employment status, current or main occupation before retirement, and job strain. The O*NET (Occupational Resource Network) database was linked to the questionnaire data to create 5 exposure measures: physical activity on the job, physical hazard exposure, interpersonal stressors, job control, and job demands. Linear regression was used to estimate associations of occupational characteristics with telomere lengths after adjustment for age, sex, race, socioeconomic position, and several behavioral risk factors. Results There were no mean differences in telomere lengths across current employment status, occupational category, job strain categories or levels of most O*NET exposure measures. There was also no evidence that being in lower status occupational categories or being exposed to higher levels of adverse physical or psychosocial exposures accelerated the association between age and telomere shortening. Conclusions Cellular aging as reflected by shorter telomeres does not appear to be an important pathway linking occupation to various health outcomes.

Occupational characteristics and the progression of carotid artery intima-media thickness and plaque over 9 years: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

“…While the two previous studies analysed self-report data of occupational physical activity7 and undesirable working conditions,4 we used the O*NET to impute job characteristics. Even though the utility of O*NET as a job exposure matrix has been proposed,14 only few studies have examined O*NET-derived job characteristics with objective measures of health,15 21 and none with subclinical CVD measures longitudinally. Because O*NET captures the characteristics of the job for a typical worker (eg, female nurse, Caucasian male architect),13 if a study sample consists of not-so-typical workers, the measurement error becomes greater.…”

“…The descriptions were obtained from current job holders and occupational analysts, who provided their ratings of the job on 277 questions (eg, “How often does your current job require you to work outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions?” “To what extent does this occupation allow workers to make decisions on their own?”) 13. Owing to its comprehensive coverage of jobs and wide range of characteristics measured, O*NET has been used as a job exposure matrix 14 15. We used the Census 2000 Occupation Codes to connect O*NET data to our sample.…”

Work-related premature ageing: old concept but emerging stakes

“…Although general health has improved in the last century in most industrial countries, clearly indicating more successful ageing, many social inequalities remain 4. These inequalities stem in part from different work trajectories, which in turn, may explain premature ageing,5 without existing cellular ageing indicator 6. This concept of work-related premature ageing is an important aspect of retirement policy reforms, where the objective is to define an optimal retirement age, one which is both economically and socially sustainable.…”

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

“…Adversity at different periods in the lifespan includes prenatal exposure to maternal stress, repeated experiences of abuse during childhood, and adulthood stressors such as exposure to financial and life stressors associated with poverty or caregiving. Some evidence, with exceptions (29,30), indicates that adversity in childhood (31) and adulthood (32-37) are not only cross-sectionally related to short telomeres, but that childhood (38) and adulthood (39) adverse experiences can accelerate shortening over time. The vast majority…”