Skip Navigation

European Heart Journal 2002 23(23):1841-1848; doi:10.1053/euhj.2002.3258
Copyright © 2002 by the European Society of Cardiology.
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (10)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kittel, F.
Right arrow Articles by Kornitzer, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kittel, F.
Right arrow Articles by Kornitzer, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Job conditions and fibrinogen in 14226 Belgian workers. The Belstress study

F. Kittela,f1, F. Leynena, M. Stama, M. Dramaixa, P. de Smeta, R. Makb, G. De Backerb and M. Kornitzera

a School of Public Health, Université Libre Bruxelles, Belgium
b Department of Public Health, Universiteit, Gent, Belgium

revised March 19, 2002; accepted March 20, 2002

Abstract

Aims To investigate the relationship between fibrinogen and stressful work conditions, where perceived strain is defined by the simultaneous presence of high psychological demands and low control, according to Karasek's Demand/Control/(Social Support) model.

Methods and Results A cross-sectional study was realized between 1994 and 1998 in 24 Belgian enterprises, on 16335 male and 5084 female middle-aged workers of different Belgian companies participating in the Belstress study. This study confirmed the well-documented bivariate relationship between plasma fibrinogen levels and gender, age, educational level, smoking, obesity, physical activity, alcohol consumption, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, arterial hypertension and diabetes. No independent multivariate relationship was observed between job control, psychological job demands or social support at work and plasma fibrinogen, but after stratification a positive association (P≤0·05) was observed between psychological job demands and plasma fibrinogen for males in the lowest educational level. Moreover a positive statistically significant association between job strain and plasma fibrinogen was observed in males but not in females. After stratification for educational level this association remained significant for males especially in the lowest educational level (P≤0·001) and became significant for females in the middle educational level.

Conclusions As suggested in our study and others, plasma fibrinogen could be one of the potential mediators explaining the relationship between job stress and coronary heart disease. Copyright 2002 The European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key Words: Coronary heart disease, fibrinogen, job stress

f1 Correspondence: Dr F. Kittel, Université Librè Bruxelles, Epidemiology and Health Promotion Department—Health Psychology Unit School of Public Health, Erasmus Campus CP 596, route de Lennik, 808-1070 Brussels, Belgium.

References

  1. Bosma H, Marmot MG, Hemingway H, Nicholson AC, Brunner E, Stansfeld SA. Low job control and risk of coronary heart disease in Whitehall II (prospective cohort) study. BMJ. 1997;314:558–565[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Marmot MG, Bosma H, Hemingway H, Brunner E, Stansfeld SA. Contribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart disease incidence. Lancet. 1997;350:235–239[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  3. Bosma H, Peter R, Siegrist J, Marmot MG. Two alternative job stress models and the risk of coronary hearth disease. Am J Public Health. 1998;1:68–74
  4. Hammar N, Alfredsson L, Theorell T. Job characteristics and the incidence of myocardial infarction. Int J Epidemiol. 1994;23:277–284[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  5. Johnson JV, Hall EM, Theorell T. Combined effects of job strain and social isolation on cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality in a random sample of the Swedish male working population. Scand. J Work Environ Health. 1989;15:271–279[ISI][Medline]
  6. Johnson JV, Steward W, Hall EM. Long-term psychosocial work environment and cardiovascular mortality among Swedish men. Am J Public Health. 1996;86:324–331[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  7. Karasek, RA, Theorell, T, Schwartz, JE, Job characteristics in relation to the prevalence of myocardial infarction in the US Health Examination Survey (HES) and the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES), Am J Public Health 1988, 78, 910, 18
  8. Lynch J, Krause N, Kaplan GA. Workplace conditions , socio-economic status, a the risk of mortality and acute myocardial infarction: The Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Am J Public Health. 1997;87:617–622[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  9. Steenland K, Johnson J, Nowlin S. A follow-up study of job strain and heart disease among males in the NHANES1 population. Am J Ind Med. 1997;2:256–260
  10. Theorell T, Tsutsumi A, Hallquist J. Decision latitude, job strain, and myocardial infarction: a study of working men in Stockholm. The SHEEP study Group. Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program. Am J Public Health. 1998;88:382–388[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  11. Gyntelberg F, Suadicani P, Jensen G. Job strain and cardiovascular risk factors among members of the Danish parliament. Occup Med Oxf. 1998;48:31–36
  12. Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Warren K, Pickering TG, Schwartz JE. Associations between ambulatory blood pressure and alternative formulations of job strain. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1994;20:349–363[ISI][Medline]
  13. Light KC, Turner JR, Hinderliter AL. Job strain and ambulatory work blood pressure in healthy young men and women. Hypertension. 1992;20:214–218[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  14. Melamed S, Kristal-Boneh E, Harari G, Froom P, Ribak J. Variation in the ambulatory blood pressure response to daily work load- the moderating role of job control. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1998;24:190–196[ISI][Medline]
  15. Pickering TG, Devereux RB, James GD. Environmental influences on blood pressure and the role of job strain. J Hum Hypertension Suppl. 1996;14:S179–85
  16. Pieper C, Lacroix AZ, Karasek R. The relation of psychosocial dimensions of work with coronary heart disease risk factors: a meta-analysis of five United-States data bases. Am J Epidemiol. 1989;129:483–494[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  17. Markowe HLJ, Marmot M, Shipley M. Fibrinogen: a possible link between social class and coronary heart disease. BMJ. 1985;291:1312–1314[ISI][Medline]
  18. Brunner E, Smith GD, Marmot M. Childhood social circumstances and psycho-social and behavioural factors as determinants of plasma fibrinogen. Lancet. 1996;347:1008–1013[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  19. Rosengren A, Wilhelmsen L, Welin L. Social influences and cardiovascular risk factors as determinants of plasma fibrinogen concentration in a general population sample of middle aged men. BMJ. 1990;300:634–638[ISI][Medline]
  20. Ishizaki M, Martikainen P, Nakagawa H, Marmot M. The relationship between employment grade and plasma fibrinogen level among Japanese male employees. Atherosclerosis. 2000;151:415–421[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  21. Yudkin J, Kumari M, Humphries S, Mohamed-Ali V. Inflammation, obesity, stress and coronary heart disease: is interleukin-6 the link? Atherosclerosis. 2000;148:209–214[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  22. Siegrist J. Emotions and health in occupational life: new scientific findings and policy implications. Patient Educ Couns. 1995;25:227–236[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  23. Siegrist J, Peter R, Cremer P, Seidel D. Chronic work stress is associated with atherogenic lipids and elevated fibrinogen in middle-aged men. J Intern Med. 1997;242:149–156[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  24. Tsutsumi A, Theorell T, Hallqvist J, Reuterwall C, de Faire U. Association between job characteristics and plasma fibrinogen in a normal working population: a cross sectional analysis in referents of the SHEEP study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1999;53:348–354[Abstract]
  25. Netterström B, Kristensen TS, Damsgaard MT. Job strain and cardiovascular risk factors: a cross sectional study of employed Danish men and women. Br J Industr Med. 1991;48:684–689[ISI][Medline]
  26. Folsom AR, Wu K, Davis CE. Population correlates of plasma fibrinogen and factor VII, putative cardiovascular risk factors. Atherosclerosis. 1991;91:191–205[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  27. Folsom AR, Quamhieh HT, Flack JM. Plasma fibrinogen and correlates in young adults. Am J Epidemiol. 1993;138:1023–1036[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  28. Davis MC, Matthews KA, Meilahn EN. Are job characteristics related to fibrinogen levels in middle-aged women? Health Psychol. 1995;14:310–318[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  29. Woodward M, Lowe G, Rumley A, Tunstall-Pedoe H. Fibrinogen as a risk factor for coronary heart disease and mortality in middle-aged men and women, The Scottish Heart Health Study. Eur Heart J. 1998;19:55–62[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  30. Sweetnam PM, Thomas HF, Yarnell JWG, Beswick AD, Baker IA, Elwood PC. Fibrinogen, viscosity and the 10 year incidence of ischaemic heart disease. Eur Heart J. 1996;17:1814–1820[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  31. Folsom AR, Wu KK, Rosamond WD, Sharrett AR, Chambless LE. Prospective study of hemostatic factors and incidence of coronary heart disease. Circulation. 1997;96:1102–1108[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  32. Meade TW, Ruddock V, Stirling Y, Chakrabarti R, Miller GJ. Fibrinolitic activity, clotting factors, and long-term incidence of ischaemic heart disease in the Northwick Park Heart Study. Lancet. 1993;342:1076–1079[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  33. Junker R, Heinrich J, Schulte H, van de Loo J, Assmann G. Coagulation Factor VII and the risk of coronary heart disease in healthy men. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1997;17:1539–1544[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  34. Cremer P, Nagel D, Bottcher B, Seidel D. Fibrinogen: ein koronärer Risikfaktor. Diagn Labor. 1991;42:28–35
  35. De Boever E, De Bacquer D, Braekman L, Baele G, Rosseneu M, De Backer G. Relation of fibrinogen to lifestyles and to cardiovascular risk factors in a working population. Int J Epidemiol. 1995;24:915–921[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  36. Moller L, Christensen TS. Plasma fibrinogen and ischemic heart disease risk factors. Arterioscler Thromb. 1991;11:344–350[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  37. Ishizaki M, Tsuritani I, Noborisaka Y. Relationship between job stress and plasma fibrinolitic activity in male Japanese workers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1996;68:315–320[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  38. Mattiasson I, Lindgärde F. The effect of psychosocial stress and risk factors for ischaemic heart disease on the plasma fibrinogen concentration. J Int Med. 1993;234:45–51[ISI][Medline]
  39. Karasek R. Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job redesign. Adm Sci Quart. 1979;24:285–308[CrossRef]
  40. Karasek R, Theorell T. Health, Work, Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. New York: Basic Books; 1990.
  41. Coetsier P, De Backer G, De Corte W. Etude belge du stress au travail: Aperçu du modèle de recherche et des outils d'investigation. Psychologie et Psychométrie. 1996;17:17–35
  42. Johnson JV, Hall EM. Jobstrain, workplace social support, and cardiovascular disease: a cross-sectional study of a random sample of the Swedish working population. Am J Public Health. 1988;78:1336–1342[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  43. Clauss A. Gerinnungsphysiologische Schnellmethode zur Bestimmung des Fibrinogens. Acta Haemato. 1959;17:237–246
  44. Gaffney PJ , Wong Y. Collaborative study of a proposed international standard for plasma fibrinogen measurement. Thromb Haemostasis. 1992;68:428–432[ISI][Medline]
  45. Rimm E, Williams P, Fosher K, Criqui M, Stampfer M. Moderate alcohol intake and lower risk of coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of effects on lipids and haemostatic factors. BMJ. 1999;319:1523–1528[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  46. Hall EM. Double exposure: the combined impact of the home and work environment on psychosomatic strain in Swedish men and women. Int J Health Serv. 1992;22:239–260[ISI][Medline]
  47. Smith EB, Thompson WD. Fibrin as a factor in arteriosclerosis. Thromb Res. 1994;73:1–19[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
  48. McDonagh J. Suppression of plasminogen binding to fibrin by high fibrinogen: a mechanism for how high fibrinogen enhances the risk of thrombosis. CML-Thrombosis. 1994;4:2–20
  49. Smith EB, Keen GA, Grant A, Stirk C. Fate of fibrinogen in human arterial intima. Arteriosclerosis. 1990;10:263–275[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  50. Vrijkotte TG, van Doornen LJ, de Geus EJ. Work stress and metabolic and haemostatic risk factors. Psychosom Med. 1999;61:796–805[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  51. Marmot M, Theorell T. Social class and cardiovascular disease: the contribution of work. Int J Health Services. 1988;18:659–674
  52. Orth-Gomer K, Johnson JV. Social network interaction and mortality. A six year follow-up study of a random sample of the Swedish population. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40:949– 57[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Heart JHome page
J. De Sutter, D. De Bacquer, S. Cuypers, J. Delanghe, M. De Buyzere, M. Kornitzer, and G. De Backer
Plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide concentration predicts coronary events in men at work: a report from the BELSTRESS study
Eur. Heart J., December 2, 2005; 26(24): 2644 - 2649.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J EpidemiolHome page
D. De Bacquer, E. Pelfrene, E. Clays, R. Mak, M. Moreau, P. de Smet, M. Kornitzer, and G. De Backer
Perceived Job Stress and Incidence of Coronary Events: 3-Year Follow-up of the Belgian Job Stress Project Cohort
Am. J. Epidemiol., March 1, 2005; 161(5): 434 - 441.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Eur Heart JHome page
T. Theorell
Job stress and fibrinogen
Eur. Heart J., December 1, 2002; 23(23): 1799 - 1801.
[Full Text] [PDF]

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (10)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kittel, F.
Right arrow Articles by Kornitzer, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kittel, F.
Right arrow Articles by Kornitzer, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?