Abstract
This study aimed to explore the prevalence and risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and psychological distress among female scientists and technicians in China. Accordingly, we included scientists and technicians from representative research institutions, medical institutions, colleges, universities, and businesses in China, and the data were collected from July 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021 via online questionnaires. The parameters evaluated in this study included age, sex, marital status, educational background, monthly income, sleep hours, sleep problems, smoking, alcohol consumption, work-related stress, work burnout, cardiovascular symptoms, CVD, family history, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. A total of 14 530 scientists and technicians were included, comprising 7144 men and 7386 women. We found 34.9% men and 16.6% women with CVD, 35.1% men and 21.4% women with depressive symptoms, 28.7% men and 13.8% women with anxiety symptoms, and 22.0% men and 9.5% women with CVD combined with depressive or anxiety symptoms. This study focused on the details of women. Younger women (age⩽35 years) had the highest prevalence of depressive symptoms (24.9%), anxiety symptoms (16.2%), and comorbidity (11.2%). It was established that, despite traditional risk factors, unmanageable work burnout, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms were associated with a higher risk of CVD in women; insomnia, overwhelming work stress, unmanageable work burnout, and CVD were linked to a higher risk of depressive symptoms and anxiety; insomnia, overwhelming work stress, and unmanageable work burnout were related to CVD combined with depressive or anxiety symptoms. A bidirectional relationship was noted between CVD and depression or anxiety in female scientists and technicians, and insomnia and overwhelming work stress were positively associated with comorbidity. It is suggested that effective measures should be taken to protect female scientists and technicians from CVD and psychological distress.
概要
本研究致力于探究中国女科技工作者心血管疾病(cardiovascular disease,CVD)及心理问题的患病率及风险因素。因此,我们于2019年7月1日至2021年3月31日通过网上问卷形式收集相关机构科技工作者的调研信息,主要包括我国有代表性的研究机构、医疗机构、技术专科学校、大学、公司等。调研内容包括: 年龄、性别、婚姻状况、教育背景、月收入、睡眠时间、睡眠问题、吸烟、饮酒、工作压力、工作倦怠感、心血管症状、CVD、家族史、抑郁和焦虑症状。总共纳入14 530名科技工作者,包括7144名男性,7386名女性。我们发现,男科技工作者CVD患病率为34.9%,女科技工作者为16.6%;35.1%的男性有抑郁症状,21.4%的女性有抑郁症状;28.7%的男性有焦虑症状,13.8%的女性有焦虑症状;22.0%的男性有CVD合并抑郁/焦虑症状,9.5%的女性有CVD合并抑郁/焦虑症状。本研究主要关注女科技工作者,发现青年女性(≤35岁)有较高的抑郁症状(24.9%)、焦虑症状(16.2%)、抑郁合并焦虑患病率(11.2%)。本研究还发现,除传统危险因素外,伴随难以调整的工作倦怠感、抑郁症状及焦虑症状的女科技工作者有更高的CVD风险;失眠、难以承受的工作压力、难以调整的工作倦怠感及CVD与女科技工作者抑郁、焦虑症状有关;失眠、难以承受的工作压力及难以调整的工作倦怠感与女科技工作者CVD合并抑郁/焦虑症状有关。女科技工作者的CVD与抑郁或焦虑有双向关系,且失眠、难以承受的工作压力与CVD合并抑郁/焦虑共病有正相关关系。因此,建议采取有效措施以防止女科技工作者患CVD和心理问题。
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Academy of Innovation Strategy of China (No. 2019ys1-4-4-8) and the China Women’s Development Foundation (No. 2021573). We appreciated Mrs. Shuzhen GUO (Department of Psycho-Cardiology. Beijing Anzhen Hospital Capital Medical University Beijing China), Mrs. Wen YU (Health Examination Center, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China), and Mrs. Ruoyu PAN (Department of Internal Medicine, School Hospital, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing, China) for helpful investigation.
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Meiyan LIU designed and supervised the investigation, and revised the paper; Lijun ZHANG analyzed the data and wrote the draft; Yanping BAO directed the statistical analysis and revised the paper; Guo LI collected and analyzed the data; Shuhui TAO collected the data. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript, and therefore, have full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity and security of the data.
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Detailed methods are provided in the electronic supplementary materials of this paper.
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Materials and methods; Tables S1-S4
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Lijun ZHANG, Yanping BAO, Guo LI, Shuhui TAO, and Meiyan LIU declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Our study received approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of the Ethics Committee of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University (No. 2014017X), and all participants included agreed to finish the survey questionnaires. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients for which identifying information is included in this article.
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Zhang, L., Bao, Y., Li, G. et al. Prevalence and risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and psychological distress among female scientists and technicians. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B 23, 1057–1064 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2200162
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2200162