Researchers from University College London, conducted a 14 year long study into the effects of work-related stress and the “metabolic syndrome“ and have found evidence of a direct link between stress in the workplace and ill-health.
The "metabolic syndrome" includes such factors as the following:
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Obesity.
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Hypertension.
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High cholesterol.
The research, allowing for other risk factors, showed that the more stress experienced, the higher the chances were of suffering "metabolic syndrome" symptoms, leading to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
More than 10,000 civil servants, aged at the beginning of the research between 35 and 55 were studied and showed that men who had experienced lots of stress at work were twice as likely to suffer syndrome ill-health than those who were not exposed to stress.
Interestingly, in a smaller study of women who had experienced lots of stress at work, the research found that they held 5 times greater risk of syndrome illness.
Results of both men and women at the lower end of the workplace were more likely to have the syndrome.
The authors of the study (Whitehall study), led by Tarani Chandola, of UCL's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health said:
“A dose-response association exists between exposure to work stress and the metabolic syndrome.
“Employees with chronic work stress have more than double the odds of the syndrome than those without work stress, after other risk factors are taken into account.
“The study provides evidence for the biological plausibility of psychosocial stress mechanisms linking stressors from everyday life with heart disease.
"One possible explanation is that prolonged exposure to work stress may affect the nervous system.
"Alternatively, chronic stress may reduce biological resilience and thus disturb the body’s physiological balance."
Further information on the Whitehall II Study can be accessed from the UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Website by clicking the following:
UCL, Dept of Epidemiology & Public Health, Whitehall II Study
Further information on help and advice for stress in the workplace can be accessed from the HSE Webpage by clicking the following:
You can also find a helpful "stress in the workplace" article, by Frank Cooper MIOSH RSP, within our own HSfB website, by clicking the following:
Article by Alexandra Johnston
