Key result
Heavy occupational lifting was associated with an 8% increased odds of developing hypertension in the prospective analysis (OR 1.08), though this did not reach statistical significance.
Why the study?
Heavy occupational lifting is prevalent in the general working population but is sparsely reported to associate with hypertension, especially among older and hypertensive workers.
Does heavy occupational lifting increase the risk of hypertension in the general working population?
Observational (n=67,363)
No
Does heavy occupational lifting increase the risk of hypertension in the general working population?
Odds Ratio: 1.08 (95% CI 0.98–1.19)
Prospective analysis suggests a trend towards heavy occupational lifting increasing the risk of hypertension, though results were not statistically significant at the 0.01 level.
Nonsignificant prospective trend leaves occupational lifting unproven as hypertension risk factor; hypothesis-generating and should not change practice.
BACKGROUND: Heavy occupational lifting is prevalent in the general working population and is sparsely reported to associate with hypertension, especially among older and hypertensive workers. We investigated if heavy occupational lifting is associated with hypertension and blood pressure (BP) in both cross-sectional and prospective study designs in the Copenhagen General Population Study, stratified by age, and use of anti-hypertensives. METHODS: Participation was conducted following the declaration of Helsinki and approved by the ethical committee (H-KF-01-144/01). By multivariable logistic and linear regression models, we investigated the association between heavy occupational lifting and hypertension, in a cross-sectional design (n = 67,363), using anti-hypertensives or BP ≥140/≥90 mmHg as outcome, and in a prospective design (n = 7020) with an above-median change in systolic BP (SBP) from baseline to follow-up and/or a shift from no use to use of anti-hypertensives as outcome, with and without stratification by age and use of anti-hypertensives. RESULTS: The odds ratio for hypertension was estimated at 0.97 (99% CI: 0.93-1.00) in the cross-sectional analysis, and at 1.08 (99% CI: 0.98-1.19) in the prospective analysis. The difference in SBP among workers with versus without heavy occupational lifting was estimated at - 0.29 mmHg (99% CI -0.82 - 0.25) in the cross-sectional and at 1.02 mmHg (99% CI -0.41 - 2.45) in the prospective analysis. No significant interaction between heavy occupational lifting and age, nor use of anti-hypertensives were shown. CONCLUSIONS: Only the prospective analysis indicated heavy occupational lifting to increase the risk of hypertension. Further research on the association between occupational lifting and hypertension are needed.
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Korshøj et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Hypertension (n=67,363). Heavy occupational lifting vs. No heavy occupational lifting was evaluated on Incident hypertension (shift to use of anti-hypertensives or above-median change in systolic blood pressure) (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.98-1.19). Heavy occupational lifting was associated with an 8% increased odds of developing hypertension in the prospective analysis (OR 1.08), though this did not reach statistical significance.
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