Threat of unemployment and cardiovascular risk factors: longitudinal study of quality of sleep and serum cholesterol concentrations in men threatened with redundancy.

OBJECTIVE--To assess whether the threat of unemployment affects risk factors for cardiovascular disease. DESIGN--Longitudinal study of a cohort of middle aged shipyard workers followed up for a mean of 6.2 (SD 1.9) years and a group of controls observed for the same period. The first investigation took place during a period of relative economic stability for the shipyard and the second during the phase of its closure. SETTING--An age cohort health screening programme in Malmö, Sweden. PARTICIPANTS--715 Male shipyard workers and 261 age matched male controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Changes in 19 variables related to the risk of cardiovascular disease, and psychological variables, alcohol consumption, smoking, and dietary habits as assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS--Serum cholesterol concentrations increased more (mean 0.25 (SD 0.68) mmol/l v 0.08 (0.66) mmol/l) and serum calcium concentrations decreased less (-0.06 (0.10) mmol/l v -0.08 (0.09) mmol/l) in the shipyard workers than in the controls. A correlation was found between scores for sleep disturbance and changes in serum cholesterol concentration. In the whole series there was a greater increase in serum cholesterol concentrations among men threatened with unemployment (437/976; 44.8%) than among those who were not. In stepwise regression analysis the change in serum cholesterol concentration was correlated with changes in haemoglobin concentration, body weight, and serum triglyceride and calcium concentrations. A positive correlation was found between change in cholesterol concentration and change in blood pressure, indicating that the overall risk profile had worsened among men with increased serum cholesterol concentrations. CONCLUSIONS--Risk of unemployment increases the serum cholesterol concentration in middle aged men, the increase being more pronounced in those with sleep disturbance. The increase in serum cholesterol is related to changes in other established risk factors for cardiovascular disease. These findings might partly explain the excessive mortality due to cardiovascular disease recorded among the unemployed and people with sleep disturbance.

[1]  S. Cobb,et al.  Changes in serum uric acid and cholesterol levels in men undergoing job loss. , 1968, JAMA.

[2]  Richard Smith.  "I'm just not right": the physical health of the unemployed. , 1985, British medical journal.

[3]  J. Siegrist.  Sleep Disturbances and Cardiovascular Risk: A Biopsychosocial Approach , 1987 .

[4]  H. Bryant,et al.  Assessment of endogenous opioid mediation in stress‐induced hypercholesterolemia in the rat. , 1988, Psychosomatic medicine.

[5]  F. Lindgärde.  Potentiometric determination of serum ionized calcium in a normal human population. , 1972, Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry.

[6]  T. Åkerstedt,et al.  Experimentally displaced sleep: effects on sleepiness. , 1982, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[7]  N Beale,et al.  Job-loss and health--the influence of age and previous morbidity. , 1986, The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

[8]  T. Åkerstedt,et al.  Sleepiness and shift work: field studies. , 1982, Sleep.

[9]  D. Jones,et al.  Unemployment and mortality: comparison of the 1971 and 1981 longitudinal study census samples. , 1987, British medical journal.

[10]  E. C. Hammond,et al.  Short and long sleep and sleeping pills. Is increased mortality associated? , 1979, Archives of general psychiatry.

[11]  K. Harms-Ringdahl,et al.  Psychosocial job factors and symptoms from the locomotor system--a multicausal analysis. , 2020, Scandinavian journal of rehabilitation medicine.

[12]  M. Brenner.  Economic change, alcohol consumption and heart disease mortality in nine industrialized countries. , 1987, Social science & medicine.

[13]  G. Larsson,et al.  Regional variations in cardiovascular mortality in Sweden--structural vulnerability in the local community. , 1988, Social science & medicine.

[14]  J. Dimsdale,et al.  Variability of Plasma Lipids in Response to Emotional Arousal , 1982, Psychosomatic medicine.

[15]  Richard Smith.  "He never got over losing his job": death on the dole. , 1985, British medical journal.

[16]  E. Trell,et al.  Indicators of alcohol consumption: comparisons between a questionnaire (Mm-MAST), interviews and serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in a health survey of middle-aged males. , 1982, British journal of addiction.

[17]  V. Edgerton,et al.  Serum lipid levels in iron deficiency anemia and effects of various treatments. , 1980, Journal of nutritional science and vitaminology.

[18]  D. Medeiros,et al.  Serum lipids and glucose as associated with hemoglobin levels and copper and zinc intake in young adults. , 1983, Life sciences.

[19]  K. Azumi,et al.  Characteristics of spindle activity and their use in evaluation of hypnotics. , 1982, Sleep.

[20]  J. Neaton,et al.  Is relationship between serum cholesterol and risk of premature death from coronary heart disease continuous and graded? Findings in 356,222 primary screenees of the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT). , 1986, JAMA.

[21]  L. Berkman,et al.  Mortality risk associated with sleeping patterns among adults. , 1983, Sleep.