The researchers had followed 600,000 individuals in Australia, the United States, and Europe for 8.5 years for the study.
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Data analyzed from 17 studies encompassing 528,908 men and women who were followed on average for 7.2 years, had an increased risk of stroke – 1.3 times higher – if they worked over 55 hours. This study, one of the largest studies on the issue was led by researchers from University College, London, and conducted across three continents.
Few studies have examined long working hours as a risk for stroke, the researchers said, although stress and extensive sitting could increase the risk of stroke.
“Essentially, if long working hours present a danger to health, it should be possible to change them, which is not always the case with other work environmental factors”, Janlert wrote.
Kivimaki said in the final analysis they found a 13 per cent increased risk of incident coronary heart disease, in people working 55 hours, or more per week, compared with those putting in a normal 35 to 40 hour week. Therefore, that the length of a working day is an important determinant mainly for stroke, but perhaps also for coronary heart disease, is an important finding. It may not be a wise decision since the additional income may not even be enough to pay for the treatment of the resulting illness which according to this report would likely be stroke more than anything else. Yet specifically, researchers pointed out that working significantly longer hours heightened the risk.
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Working longer than the usual number of hours may increase the danger for stroke, as indicated by an information gathered from about a million people. The results were adjusted to account for the age, gender and socioeconomic status of each study volunteer as well as factors such as smoking history, alcohol consumption and body mass index. Further research would strengthen the reliability of the findings by providing controlled verification of actual working hours to eliminate the possibility of misclassification and human error. The researchers suggest that physical inactivity and high alcohol consumption, as well as repetitive triggering of the stress response, are also the health-risk behaviours that may increase the risk of stroke.
