October 1, 1988International Journal of Health Services
Social Class and Cardiovascular Disease: The Contribution of Work
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Discussion
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Implication
Epidemiological review reveals that adverse psychosocial work conditions increase cardiovascular risk in lower social classes, indicating workplace stress contributes to socioeconomic health...
Key Points
- To evaluate how psychosocial working conditions contribute to the observed relationship between lower social class and increased risk of coronary heart disease.
- Reviewed distributions of psychosocial work characteristics, including skill discretion, decision authority, and workplace social support, across socioeconomic classes.
- Examined mechanistic links between adverse job environments and cardiovascular pathology, focusing on neuroendocrine pathways and health-compromising behaviors.
- Workers in lower social classes face an unequal burden of poor psychosocial work conditions, possessing fewer coping resources and less job autonomy.
- Adverse psychosocial work factors correlate with traditional biomedical cardiovascular risk markers and exacerbate lifestyle risks, such as excessive tobacco smoking.
- Disparities in psychosocial work environments account for a substantial portion of the elevated cardiovascular disease incidence found in lower social classes.
Cite This Study
Marmot et al. (1988) studied this question.