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Does influence at work modify the relation between high occupational physical activity and risk of heart disease in women?

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate whether influence at work modifies the association between demanding and strenuous occupational physical activity (OPA) and risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD).

Methods

A sample of 12,093 nurses aged 45–64 years from the Danish Nurse Cohort Study was followed for 20.6 years by individual linkage to incident IHD in the Danish National Patient Registry. Information on OPA, influence at work, other occupational factors and known risk factors for IHD was collected by self-report in 1993.

Results

During follow-up 869 nurses were hospitalised with incident IHD. Nurses exposed to strenuous OPA and low influence at work had a 46% increased risk of IHD [hazard ratio (HR) 1.46 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–2.09)] compared to the reference group of nurses with moderate OPA and high influence at work. Nurses exposed to strenuous OPA and high influence at work were not at an increased risk of IHD [HR 1.10 (95% CI 0.59–2.06)]. An additive hazards model showed there were 18.0 (95% CI −0.01 to 36.0) additional cases of IHD per 10,000 person years among nurses with strenuous OPA and low influence at work compared to nurses with moderate OPA and high influence at work. A detrimental additive interaction between strenuous OPA and low influence at work that could explain the additional cases of IHD among nurses with strenuous OPA and low influence at work was indicated.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that high influence at work may buffer some of the adverse effects of strenuous OPA on risk of IHD.

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Acknowledgements

The original data for this study were collected and provided by The Danish Nurse Cohort Study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230, Odense M, Denmark

    Karen Allesøe, Andreas Holtermann, Eleanor Boyle & Karen Søgaard

  2. Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Centre for Health, Rigshospitalet-Glostrup, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Karen Allesøe & Mette Aadahl

  3. National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Andreas Holtermann & Reiner Rugulies

  4. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Reiner Rugulies & Mette Aadahl

  5. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Reiner Rugulies

  6. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Eleanor Boyle

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  1. Karen Allesøe
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  2. Andreas Holtermann
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  3. Reiner Rugulies
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  4. Mette Aadahl
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  5. Eleanor Boyle
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Correspondence to Karen Allesøe.

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Funding

Karen Allesøe was supported by The Working Environment Foundation, Denmark (Grant Number 08-2013-09/20130069201).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Allesøe, K., Holtermann, A., Rugulies, R. et al. Does influence at work modify the relation between high occupational physical activity and risk of heart disease in women?. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 90, 433–442 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1207-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1207-1

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