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. 2013 Mar;227(1):178-81.
doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2012.12.027. Epub 2013 Jan 1.

Job insecurity and incident coronary heart disease: the Whitehall II prospective cohort study

Jane E Ferrie  1 , Mika Kivimäki, Martin J Shipley, George Davey Smith, Marianna Virtanen
Affiliations

Job insecurity and incident coronary heart disease: the Whitehall II prospective cohort study

Jane E Ferrie et al. Atherosclerosis. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: This study uses a prospective design to examine the association between self-reported job insecurity and incident coronary heart disease; an association which has been little investigated previously.

Methods: Participants were 4174 British civil servants (1236 women and 2938 men), aged 42 to 56 with self-reported data on job insecurity and free from coronary heart disease at baseline (1995-6). These participants were followed until 2002-4, an average of 8.6 years, for incident fatal coronary heart disease, clinically verified incident non-fatal myocardial infarction, or definite angina (a total of 168 events).

Results: Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics showed job insecurity to be associated with a 1.42-fold (95% CI, 1.05-1.93) risk of incident coronary heart disease compared with secure employment. Adjustment for physiological and behavioral cardiovascular risk factors had little effect on this estimate; 1.38 (1.01-1.88).

Conclusion: This study suggests that job insecurity may adversely affect coronary health.

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