Survey on the relationship between stress and cardiovascular health among office employees at a university hospital in Iran

Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2025 Dec;31(4):1084-1089. doi: 10.1080/10803548.2025.2473806. Epub 2025 Mar 21.

Abstract

Objectives. Job stress (JS) can endanger health. This study therefore determined the association between risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and JS in hospital office employees. Methods. The cross-sectional study examined JS of 350 hospital administrative staff using the Osipow questionnaire. After 10 h of fasting, the participants' systolic and diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels were recorded. SPSS version 20 was used for statistical analysis. Results. In total, 85.14% participants have more than medium stress. Significant differences were observed between the blood triglyceride levels (p < 0.05) and levels of stress. The blood cholesterol and glucose level in the medium or lower stress group were significantly lower than in the more than medium stress group (p < 0.001). Conclusions. According to the results, psychological counseling programs are recommended for reducing the risk of (CVD) factors in stressful work environments.

Keywords: cardiovascular diseases; job stress; office worker; risk factors.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Blood Glucose / analysis
  • Blood Pressure
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / psychology
  • Cholesterol / blood
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Hospitals, University
  • Humans
  • Iran / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Occupational Stress* / epidemiology
  • Personnel, Hospital* / psychology
  • Risk Factors
  • Stress, Psychological*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Triglycerides / blood

Substances

  • Blood Glucose
  • Triglycerides
  • Cholesterol