Job stress, in terms of high psychological demands and little decision making authority, has been associated with an increase in risk for several diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. But until recently job stress had not been studied for a relationship with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
But according to a Swedish study, there is a potential link between so called psychosocial work stress and inflammatory diseases, including RA.
To determine if there is a link between job stressors with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, Swedish researchers studied data from the Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA), which is a large population-based case-control study conducted in the middle and southern parts of Sweden. EIRA data used for the job stress study is from the years 1996 to 2003 and included participants that were 18 – 65 years of age. There were a total of 1,221 cases and 1,454 controls included in this study.
The job decision latitude and psychological job demands and were measured based on the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model developed by Karasek and Theorell. The DCS model uses three dimensions that focus on explaining the development of stress for the individual at work. The individual, the central figure in the DCS model, has his or her perceptions of work experience ultimately shaped by these factors.
Demand refers to the amount of workload or responsibilities placed on the individual. Control, a concept equated with autonomy, allows an individual to control what duties to respond to first and how to go about completing them. Support, the last dimension of the DCS model, looks at the level and type of assistance given by management or the supervisor to the worker.
The participants were asked questions about their present work situations based on the DCS model. Job strain was defined as the combination of high demands and low decision latitude.
Based on their analysis of this data, the researchers concluded that the observed relationship between low decision latitude and the risk of developing RA is most likely real. Low decision latitude is also the component in the DCS model that has most consistently been related to risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition, there was also evidence that people with high psychological job demands had a decreased risk of RA.
The study was published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
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