High Work Stress Can Equal a Higher Risk of Diabetes

New research from China suggests that stressful working conditions or job-related stressors carry an increased risk for diabetes. The study followed petroleum industry workers in China for 12 years and reported findings to the journal Diabetes Care.

Data on 3,730 petroleum industry workers in China were looked at from the start, with none of the workers having diabetes in the beginning. After a 12-year follow-up, though, the study found that those with stressful job tasks were 57 percent more likely to develop diabetes compared to those who did not.

Workers in stressful positions were much more likely to develop diabetes, but so were those who experienced declines in coping resources.

Coping resources, such as social support from friends and family or time for off-work (recreational) activities were also high indicators of diabetic risk. Those who had neither of these coping mechanisms were 68 percent more likely to develop diabetes than were those who did.


Job-related stress in the study was classified as "task stressors" (specific job-related stresses) and organizational stressors (items related to the overall organization, out of control of the worker). The former had the greatest impact on worker's likelihood of diabetes whereas the latter had little or no impact.

Task stressors in the study included feeling overloaded/overworked, being unclear about expectations or responsibility on the job, and physical labor strains. Organizational stressors included things like poor communication, work interruptions, or workplace closures. Other stressors like control over one's job and how much influence the worker had over day-to-day work activities were also not related to increased diabetes risks.

The study's limitations included it's not being a controlled study with controlled environments and its focus on workers in a single type of industry whose workforce is predominantly male. The study does, however, add to evidence that has been showing that stress plays a role in chronic disease and is an important indicator of diabetic risk.


Source: Reuters


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