Researchers in Canada have said that office workers who spend long hours on the job were more likely to have high blood pressure, including a type that can go undetected during a routine medical appointment.
Findings of the study were recently published in ‘Hypertension,’ a journal of the American Heart Association (AHA).
Compared with colleagues who worked fewer than 35 hours a week, working 49 or more hours each week was linked to a 70 per cent greater likelihood of having masked hypertension and 66 per cent greater likelihood of having sustained hypertension-elevated blood pressure readings in and out of a clinical setting.
Similarly, working between 41 and 48 hours each week was linked to a 54 per cent greater likelihood of having masked hypertension and 42 per cent greater likelihood of having sustained hypertension.
Masked hypertension is defined as normal blood pressure (BP) in the clinic or office (<140/90 mmHg), but an elevated BP out of the clinic (ambulatory daytime BP or home BP>135/85 mmHg).
It may occur in as many as 10 per cent of the general population, and was important because it was not diagnosed by routine medical examinations, but could increase the risk of organ damage and cardiovascular events.
Lead Study Author Dr. Xavier Trudel said: “Both masked and sustained high blood pressure are linked to higher cardiovascular disease risk.” Trudel is an assistant professor in the Social and Preventive Medicine Department at Laval University in Quebec, Canada.
“The observed associations accounted for job strain, a work stressor defined as a combination of high work demands and low decision-making authority. However, other related stressors might have an impact,” Trudel said.
“Future research could examine whether family responsibilities such as a worker’s number of children, household duties and childcare role, might interact with work circumstances to explain high blood pressure.”
The five-year study, conducted by a Canadian research team, enlisted more than 3,500 white-collar employees at three public institutions in Quebec, the ‘MedicalXpress’ reported.
“The link between long work-hours and high blood pressure in the study was about the same for men as for women,” Trudel said.