title: Blood pressure and working conditions in hospital nurses and nursing assistants. The ORSOSA study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Healthcare workers often are unsatisfied with their working conditions despite declaring to like their jobs. Psychosocial constraints in the workplace have increased recently due to changes in work organization. These psychosocial constraints are linked to cardiovascular diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the relationship between blood pressure levels and organizational occupational risk factors in female hospital workers, using a new questionnaire (the Nursing Work Index-Extended Organization [NWI-EO] questionnaire), which quantifies psychological and organizational work factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ORSOSA study is a national, multicentre, cohort study conducted in seven voluntary French university hospitals, including 214 work units with a total of 2307 nurses and 1530 nursing assistants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Systolic and diastolic blood pressure appeared to be significantly associated with age (P<0.001) and excess weight (P<0.001). The difference between systolic blood pressure in day-shift and night-shift workers was 2.5mmHg (P<0.001). The NWI-EO dimension most strongly correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure was poor team relationships (P<0.01 for both). For a one-point difference in the NWI-EO stress score, systolic blood pressure was higher by a mean of 0.2mmHg.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that poor relationships within teams are related to high blood pressure among hospital workers. They add to the evidence that working conditions should be considered and investigated further among other risk factors as a pathway to primary prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire environnement et prédiction de la santé des populations (EPSP)-TIMC, UMR CNRS 5525, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Gaudemaris
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levant
authors.forename: Virgine
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ehlinger
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hérin
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lepage
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Soulat
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sobaszek
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kelly-Irving
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009728:Nursing Assistants; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D016272:Occupational Health; D010348:Patient Care Team; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace