Social, Psychological, And Physical Aspects Of The Work Environment Could Contribute To Hypertension Prevalence.
Studies on the physical and social characteristics of the workplace have begun to provide evidence for the role of specific workplace factors on health. However, the overall contribution of the workplace to health has not been considered. Estimates of the influences on health across domains of the work environment are a critical first step toward understanding what level of priority the workplace should take as the target for public policies to improve health. The influences or contribution of these domains on health in the work environment are particularly useful to study since they are potentially modifiable through changes in policies and environment. Our analysis used detailed data from blue-collar industrial workers at two dozen Alcoa plants. It includes work environmental measures of psychological hazards, physical hazards, and the workplace social environment, to estimate the overall importance of the workplace environment for hypertension. Our findings suggest that social, psychological, and physical aspects of the work environment could contribute to a substantial proportion of hypertension prevalence. These attributes of the workplace could thus be a useful target for improving workforce health.
David H. Rehkopf (drehkopf@stanford.edu) is an assistant professor in the Division of General Medicine Disciplines at Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, in California.
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Rehkopf
Sepideh Modrek is an assistant professor in the Department of Economics, College of Business, at San Francisco State University, in California.
Sepideh
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Modrek
Linda F. Cantley is a lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Linda F
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Cantley
Mark R. Cullen is a professor in the Division of General Medicine Disciplines, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University.
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Cullen
D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D015995:Prevalence; D012931:Social Environment; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*
Determinants Of Health; Workforce Issues