Diabetes: work stress a possible risk factor in women
20 November 2009
Work stress may be an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes among women, researchers say (Diabetes Care, online first).
Female civil servants who reported a higher level of psychological work stress at baseline were almost twice as likely to have developed type 2 diabetes after 15 years of follow-up compared to those with lower stress levels, British researchers said.
The effect remained after adjustment for socioeconomic factors and outside work stressors, and was attenuated by only 20 per cent after adjustment for health behaviours, obesity and other type 2 diabetes risk factors.
There was no relationship between work stress and type 2 diabetes incidence in men, a finding supported by 2 earlier studies.
The findings came from a prospective analysis of 5895 middle-aged Caucasian civil servants drawn from the Whitehall II cohort study.
“Women exposed to high job demands and low job control had higher risk… than those not exposed to this job combination,” the authors said.
“Women exposed to low work social support had even higher [2-fold] risk.
Last Reviewed: 20 November 2009
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