Association of self-reported physical aspect of workplace environment and hypertension - a cross sectional study in UK

Abstract: Introduction       Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for 9.4 million death per year. The characteristics of the physical environment of the workplace may influence exposure to the risk of hypertension. The aim of this study is to increase the knowledge of to what extent of physical workplace environment is associated with hypertension. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted using UK Biobank data including 256,617 participants, aged 39-71 years. The exposure variable included information about the physical aspects of the workplace environment. The outcome variable was hypertension, defined by the average of two blood pressure measurement, systolic blood pressure >140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure >90 mmHg. The association was calculated using logistic regression. Result Both crude (OR 1.21, CI 1.14-1.28) and adjusted analysis (OR 1.07, CI 1.01-1.12) showed an association between exposure to chemicals in the workplace and hypertension. This association was constant when controlling for possible confounders in three models. Other physical aspects of the workplace environment did not show any statistically significant association with hypertension. To assess whether this association was modified by job satisfaction, the analysis was further stratified by work/ job satisfaction, but it was concluded that work/ job satisfaction does not act as an effect modifier of the association between workplace environment and hypertension. Conclusion Chemical exposure may increase the risk of hypertension in the workplace among the workers. This knowledge emphasizes the importance to formulate preventive measures in the workplace for better health outcome of workers.