Prospective Cohort Study to Elucidate the Correlation between Occupational Stress and Hypertension Risk in Oil Workers from Kelamayi City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China

TLDR

Oil workers in China experience higher occupational stress than the general population. The study aimed to identify hypertension risk factors among oil workers and evaluate how occupational stress influences hypertension incidence after adjusting for other variables. A prospective cohort of 1,354 oil workers was followed to assess hypertension development. During follow‑up, 231 new hypertension cases were diagnosed (17.1% cumulative incidence), with higher rates in high‑stress workers (20.3%) versus low‑stress (12.0%); multivariate analysis showed high occupational stress increased hypertension risk (HR ≈ 1.55 overall, 2.34 in women) after adjusting for other factors.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the major risk factors for hypertension in oil workers, and investigate the effect of occupational stress on the incidence of hypertension after controlling for other risk factors. A prospective cohort approach was used following enrollment of 1354 oil workers. The occupational stress experienced by oil workers was higher than for the general population in China. By the end of the cohort study, 231 new cases of hypertension among the oil workers had been diagnosed. The cumulative incidence of hypertension was 17.06%. There were 44, 112, and 75 workers who developed hypertension in the low, intermediate, and high occupational stress groups, which represented a 12.0%, 15.6%, and 20.3% cumulative incidence, respectively (chi-square value = 9.812, p < 0.01). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard model analysis showed that type of work, cigarette smoking, excess body weight, and obesity were risk factors for hypertension (p < 0.05). After risk factors such as type of work, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI) were controlled, the hypertension risk (hazard ratio, HR) in the high occupational stress group was 1.549 (1.072-2.236) compared to the low exposure group, and 2.337 (1.191-4.585) in female subjects. Our study indicated that an increase in occupational stress was associated with an increased risk of hypertension after other factors were adjusted.