Occupational Stress and Health among Factory Workers

TLDR

The study aims to extend prior research by examining how 12 measures of perceived stress relate to five self‑reported health symptoms and five medical conditions among blue‑collar workers, and it highlights the need for longitudinal studies to assess environmental and genetic interactions. Using cross‑sectional data, the authors assessed associations between perceived stress and health outcomes in a factory worker population. Perceived stress was consistently associated with angina, ulcers, neurotic symptoms, hypertension, and other heart‑disease risk factors, and, among workers exposed to noxious chemicals, it also heightened respiratory and dermatological symptoms, indicating that stress amplifies the deleterious effects of such exposure and may influence a broad spectrum of health outcomes.

Abstract

This study extends prior research on occupational stress and health by examining the crosssectional association of 12 measures of perceived stress to five indicators of self-reported symptoms of ill health andfive medical conditions in a population of blue-collar workers. Net of a variety of confounding factors, including exposure to noxious physical-chemical agents, perceived stress is consistently positively related to self-reported angina, ulcers, and neurotic symptoms and to medical evidence of hypertension and other heart disease risk factors. Perceived stress is also positively associated with self-reported respiratory and dermatological symptoms but only among workers who report exposure to potentially noxious physicalchemical agents. That is, stress seems to exacerbate the deleterious effects of such exposure. The results suggest that occupational stress may affect a wide range of workers and health outcomes. Limitations of the study indicate a need for future longitudinal studies with more medical data on health status and fuller assessment of environmental and genetic factors that may interact with stress in determining health.