When Job Stress Threatens Chinese Workers

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between job stress assessed by job demand control (JDC) model and effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model, and coronary heart disease (CHD) among Chinese workers. METHODS: The study enrolled 388 subjects undergoing angiography. Job stress was assessed by JDC and ERI models. The association between job stress and CHD was analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: Compared with low level group, high strain, especially high demand in JDC model, increased CHD risk with odds ratio of 2.0 (P < 0.05), and 5.0 (P < 0.001), respectively; by combing exposure to both high job strain and high ERI, a substantially increased CHD risk was observed (adjusted odds ratio = 6.1, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: High job strain and demand increased the risk of CHD among Chinese workers. The combination of information from the two job stress models (JDC and ERI) substantially improved the risk estimation for CHD.