Work Related Stress, Well-Being and Cardiovascular Risk among Flight Logistic Workers: An Observational Study.

Luigi Lecca,Michele Meloni,Marcello Campagna,Igor Portoghese,Nicola Mucci,Pierluigi Cocco,Maura Galletta

doi:10.3390/ijerph15091952

Abstract

Work-related stress is a known occupational hazard, with a putative role on the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Although several investigations have explored the association in various workplace scenarios, none have focused on the airport flight logistic support personnel, a transportation business of crucial importance, potentially exposed to job stress and consequently to an increase in CVD risk. We explored the relationship between work-related stress and cardiovascular risk in 568 healthy workers of a flight logistic support company using the Health and Safety Executive questionnaire, the Framingham Heart Study General Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Risk Prediction Score, and the WHO general well-being index (WHO-5). We used univariate and multivariate statistical methods to take account of possible confounders. Our results show that a low job support significantly increases the CVD risk score and decreases the WHO well-being index with reference to subjects reporting high support on the job. In addition, the well-being index of workers with high strain jobs appears lower in respect to workers employed in low strain job. The multivariate analysis confirms a protective effect of job support, and shows a detrimental influence on CVD risk by physical inactivity, regular intake of alcohol, and a low educational level. In addition, job control, job support, low strain, and high demand coupled with high control (active job) showed a beneficial effect on psychological well-being. Our results suggest that a combination of general risk factors and organizational factors contributes to increase CVD risk and well-being, representing a crucial target for intervention strategies to promote health in the workplace.

Highlights

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the adulthood result from the concurrent action of modifiable and unmodifiable risk factors, and represent the major cause of death in industrialized countries [1].Among the modifiable CVD determinants, tobacco smoking, unhealthy dietary habits, poor physical activity, and stress are known to play a significant role [2]
We considered overweight subjects with a body mass index (BMI) exceeding 25 kg/m2, and we set the threshold for hypertension at SBP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 90 mmHg [22,23]
We considered the following as major CVD events: coronary death, myocardial infarction, coronary insufficiency, angina, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, transient ischemic attack, peripheral artery disease, and heart failure

Summary

Introduction

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the adulthood result from the concurrent action of modifiable and unmodifiable risk factors, and represent the major cause of death in industrialized countries [1]. Among the modifiable CVD determinants, tobacco smoking, unhealthy dietary habits, poor physical activity, and stress are known to play a significant role [2]. International consensus exists about work-related stress as one of the major health and safety challenges for modern society [3], its link to cardiovascular risk is still unclear [4,5]. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1952; doi:10.3390/ijerph15091952 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion