Page 43 - Petelin, Ana. 2020. Zdravje delovno aktivne populacije / Health of the Working-Age Population. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
P. 43
k related stress as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular fizioterapevtske in kineziološke priložnosti ... | opportunities in physiotherapy and kinesiology ...
diseases
Mladen Gasparini
Izola General Hospital, Polje 40, 6310 Izola, Slovenia
Aim and purpose: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent a major health
burden for the working populations accounting for almost 50% of all deaths and
25% of work disability. CVD prediction models focuses mainly on “convention-
al cardiovascular risk factors,” such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and
advanced age, which in themselves account for 60% to 70% of all cases of CVD.
Alternative nonconventional risk factors may account for some of this gap and
are becoming increasingly important.
Content: With most adults spending half of their waking hours at work, the
workplace became an important setting where employees could experience
stress at work which could have negative effects on CVD. There are only few
experimental studies available that studied the link between stress in the work-
place and the occurrence of CVD, so data are based mainly on observational
studies. Among the important mechanisms that can trigger the onset of CVD
due to stress are the disruption of the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance
and dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are well-
known circumstances that adversely affect the cardiovascular system both by
accelerating the atherosclerotic process and by precipitating the occurrence of
a cardiovascular event. In addition to this intrinsic derangements, the work en-
vironment can contribute to the adoption of high-risk behaviors such as smok-
ing, physical inactivity, and poor diet thus further increasing the risk of CHD.
Defining the role of work stress as a potential risk factor for CVD is demand-
ing, given its subjectivity and the difficulty associated with synthesizing its sig-
nificant components into comparable metrics. Study of its role is further com-
plicated by the fact that psychosocial stressors have a tendency to coexist and
cluster making difficult to elucidate the importance of a single stressor or risk
factor.
Conclusions: Stress in the workplace is an important risk factor for developing
CVD and can increase the risk of cardiovascular complications by as much as
40%. It is therefore important to examine in more detail the possible links be-
tween stress and CVD, especially because stress in the workplace can be influ-
enced or even eliminated.
Key words: work stress, cardiovascular disease, risk factors
41
diseases
Mladen Gasparini
Izola General Hospital, Polje 40, 6310 Izola, Slovenia
Aim and purpose: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent a major health
burden for the working populations accounting for almost 50% of all deaths and
25% of work disability. CVD prediction models focuses mainly on “convention-
al cardiovascular risk factors,” such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and
advanced age, which in themselves account for 60% to 70% of all cases of CVD.
Alternative nonconventional risk factors may account for some of this gap and
are becoming increasingly important.
Content: With most adults spending half of their waking hours at work, the
workplace became an important setting where employees could experience
stress at work which could have negative effects on CVD. There are only few
experimental studies available that studied the link between stress in the work-
place and the occurrence of CVD, so data are based mainly on observational
studies. Among the important mechanisms that can trigger the onset of CVD
due to stress are the disruption of the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance
and dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are well-
known circumstances that adversely affect the cardiovascular system both by
accelerating the atherosclerotic process and by precipitating the occurrence of
a cardiovascular event. In addition to this intrinsic derangements, the work en-
vironment can contribute to the adoption of high-risk behaviors such as smok-
ing, physical inactivity, and poor diet thus further increasing the risk of CHD.
Defining the role of work stress as a potential risk factor for CVD is demand-
ing, given its subjectivity and the difficulty associated with synthesizing its sig-
nificant components into comparable metrics. Study of its role is further com-
plicated by the fact that psychosocial stressors have a tendency to coexist and
cluster making difficult to elucidate the importance of a single stressor or risk
factor.
Conclusions: Stress in the workplace is an important risk factor for developing
CVD and can increase the risk of cardiovascular complications by as much as
40%. It is therefore important to examine in more detail the possible links be-
tween stress and CVD, especially because stress in the workplace can be influ-
enced or even eliminated.
Key words: work stress, cardiovascular disease, risk factors
41
