Effect of Long Working Hours on Self-reported Hypertension among Middle-aged and Older Wage Workers

Abstract

ObjectivesMany studies have reported an association between overwork and hypertension. However, research on the health effects of long working hours has yielded inconclusive results. The objective of this study was to identify an association between overtime work and hypertension in wage workers 45 years and over of age using prospective data.MethodsWage workers in Korea aged 45 years and over were selected for inclusion in this study from among 10,254 subjects from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Workers with baseline hypertension and those with other major diseases were excluded. In the end, a total of 1,079 subjects were included. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate hazard ratios and adjust for baseline characteristics such as sex, age, education, income, occupation, form of employment, body mass index, alcohol habit, smoking habit, regular exercise, and number of working days per week. Additional models were used to calculate hazard ratios after gender stratification.ResultsAmong the 1,079 subjects, 85 workers were diagnosed with hypertension during 3974.2 person-months. The average number of working hours per week for all subjects was 47.68. The proportion of overtime workers was 61.0% (cutoff, 40 h per week). Compared with those working 40 h and less per week, the hazard ratio of subjects in the final model, which adjusted for all selected variables, working 41-50 h per week was 2.20 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19–4.06), that of subjects working 51-60 h per week was 2.40 (95% CI, 1.07–5.39), and that of subjects working 61 h and over per week was 2.87 (95% CI, 1.33–6.20). In gender stratification models, the hazard ratio of the females tended to be higher than that of the males.ConclusionAs the number of working hours per week increased, the hazard ratio for diagnosis of hypertension significantly increased. This result suggests a positive association between overtime work and the risk of hypertension.

Occupational Disparities in the Association between Self-Reported Salt-Eating Habit and Hypertension in Older Adults in Xiamen, China

“…Perceived stress then contributes to elevated blood pressure. Similarly, a recent study on the effect of working hours and hypertension in Koreans showed that there was a higher hazard ratio of hypertension in female workers than male workers [ 43 ]. The authors explained that women have to bear the burden of a job and domestic work, and moreover, the working burden is higher for female workers than male workers.…”

A dose–response relationship between long working hours and unmet need for access to hospital facilities

“…A response of, "I do not have enough money", was defined as "economic burden"; a response of, "Most hospitals were closed when I had free time to visit a hospital", was defined as "lack of time"; and other responses were defined as "other", such as, "I have difficulty making a hospital appointment", "Using transportation is hard", "I hate waiting for such a long time in hospital", "Symptoms were mild", and "other" for other causes. (32).…”

Dose–Response Relation Between Work Hours and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

“…Changes in the activity of the autonomic, sympathetic, and/or parasympathetic nervous systems have been suggested as potential mechanisms through which working long hours influences cardiovascular health, as has increased blood pressure. 11 Substantial evidence exists that working long hours is associated with many CVD-related risk factors (e.g., hypertension, 12, 13 heart rate variability, 14 smoking, 15 physical inactivity, 15 stress 15, 16 and depression 17 ), and it has been suggested that increasing work hour durations may have a dose-response relationship with CVD. 9, 18 …”