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Abstract
Objective: Prospective cohort studies regarding job strain and the risk of stroke are controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between job strain and the risk of stroke.
Methods: The PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched for prospective cohort studies with data on job strain and the risk of stroke. Studies were included if they reported adjusted relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of stroke from job strain. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to sex and stroke type.
Results: Six prospective cohort studies comprising 138,782 participants were included. High strain jobs were associated with increased risk of stroke (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.01–1.47) compared with low strain jobs. The result was more pronounced for ischemic stroke (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.12–2.23). The risk of stroke was significant in women (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.04–1.69) and nonsignificant in men (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.69–2.27), but the difference in RRs in sex subgroups was not significant. Neither active (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.90–1.28) nor passive (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.86–1.18) job characteristics were associated with an increased risk of stroke compared with low strain jobs.
Conclusions: Exposure to high strain jobs was associated with an increased risk of stroke, especially in women. Further studies are needed to confirm whether interventions to reduce work stress decrease the risk of stroke.
GLOSSARY
- CHD=
- coronary heart disease;
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- CVD=
- cardiovascular disease;
- DCM=
- demand–control model;
- HR=
- hazard ratio;
- PAR=
- population attributable risk;
- RR=
- relative risk
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
↵* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Supplemental data at Neurology.org
Editorial, page 1640
- Received December 17, 2014.
- Accepted in final form April 28, 2015.
- © 2015 American Academy of Neurology
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Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- Re:Job strain and risk of stroke: Is current research conclusive?
- Stress and cardiovascular disease: could working better mean less stroke?
- Job strain and risk of stroke: Is current research conclusive?
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