“Hypertension, also known as high or elevated blood pressure, is a disorder in which blood vessels have persistently high tension, which can damage them. Every time the heart beats, it pumps blood to the vessels, which carry blood to all parts of the body. Blood pressure is the force exerted by blood against the walls of the vessels (arteries) when pumped by the heart. The higher the tension, the more effort the heart has to make to pump.
Most people with hypertension do not show any symptoms. If left uncontrolled, hypertension can cause myocardial infarction, enlargement of the heart and, eventually, heart failure” (WHO | Hypertension, 2016).
New research conducted with white-collar or office workers suggests that long hours at work may be linked to high blood pressure, including a type that may go unnoticed during a routine doctor’s appointment (Trudel et al., 2019).
To arrive at this finding, researchers evaluated more than 3,500 professional employees at three public institutions in Quebec. These institutions generally provide insurance services to the population.
An estimated 15 to 30% of people have a type of condition called “masked hypertension,” meaning their high blood pressure readings are normal during health care visits but elevated when measured elsewhere. .
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This study compared office workers who worked long hours with colleagues who worked less than 35 hours a week.
The study was conducted over five years and included three waves of testing in years one, three and five. To simulate in-clinic blood pressure readings, a trained assistant provided participants with a portable monitor to check each participant’s resting blood pressure three times in one morning. For the remainder of the workday, the participant wore the blood pressure monitoring device, which took readings every 15 minutes, collecting a minimum of 20 additional measurements per day.
Average resting readings of 140/90 mmHg or more, and average working readings of 135/85 or more, were considered high.
In total, nearly 19% of workers had suffered from hypertension, which included employees already taking high blood pressure medications. More than 13% of workers had masked hypertension and were not receiving treatment for high blood pressure.
Study findings
• Working 49 hours or more each week was associated with a 70% greater likelihood of having masked hypertension and a 66% greater likelihood of having sustained hypertension (elevated blood pressure readings in and outside of a clinical setting);
• Working 41 to 48 hours each week was associated with a 54% greater likelihood of having masked hypertension and a 42% greater likelihood of having sustained hypertension;
• The results took into account variables such as job stress, age, sex, educational level, occupation, smoking, body mass index and other health factors.
• The link between long work hours and high blood pressure in the study was almost the same for men as for women.
“Both masked and sustained high blood pressure are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Xavier Trudel, assistant professor in the department of social and preventive medicine at Universite Laval in Quebec, Canada and senior author of the study.
“The observed associations explained job strain, a job stressor defined as a combination of high job demands and low decision-making authority. However, other related stressors could have an impact,” Trudel said.
“Future research could examine whether family responsibilities, such as a worker’s number of children, household chores, and childcare roles, might interact with work circumstances to explain high blood pressure.”
Limitations
The study “did not include blue-collar workers (employees who are paid hourly and perform manual labor in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, maintenance, or hospitality jobs), so these findings may not reflect the impact on blood pressure of shift work or positions with greater physical demands, the authors noted.
Other limitations include measuring blood pressure only during daytime hours and omitting hours worked outside of participants’ main job.
Strengths
The authors noted several strengths of the study, including its many volunteers and its explanation of multiple factors that can affect blood pressure. Additionally, repeated testing over several years, using portable monitors rather than relying on workers’ reports of their blood pressure readings, and using the same monitors for all blood pressure measurements improve the reliability of the tests. findings.
“People should be aware that long hours at work can affect their heart health, and if they are working long hours, they should ask their doctors about monitoring their blood pressure over time with a portable monitor,” Trudel said.
“Masked hypertension can affect someone for a long period of time and is associated, in the long term, with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. “We have previously shown that over five years, approximately 1 in 5 people with masked hypertension never showed high blood pressure in a clinical setting, which could delay diagnosis and treatment.”
Bibliographic reference:
WHO | Hypertension. (2016). Recovered from
Trudel, X., Brisson, C., Gilbert-Ouimet, M., Vézina, M., Talbot, D., & Milot, A. (2019). Long Working Hours and the Prevalence of Masked and Sustained Hypertension. Hypertension, HYPERTENSIONAHA11912926. https://doi.org/
Fountain: