Abstract
Background
Despite the well-documented link between long working hours and increased cardiovascular disease risk, the specific impact of prolonged exposure to long working hours on arterial stiffness, an early marker of vascular damage, remains underexplored. This study aims to examine whether long working hours, repeatedly assessed at midlife, is associated with increased arterial stiffness at older age in a 24-year prospective study of white-collar workers in Quebec City, Canada.
Methods
This study relied on a prospective cohort, initiated in 1991–1993 (T1) with two follow-ups after 8 years (T2, 1999–2000) and 24 years (T3, 2015–2018). Participants (N = 1,629) were randomly selected for arterial stiffness measurement at T3 using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Long working hours (> 40 h/week) were assessed at baseline (T1) and at the first follow-up (T2). Mean differences in PWV were estimated using generalized linear models, accounting for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle-related risk factors, clinical factors and psychosocial stressors at work.
Results
Among participants who remained actively employed over the study period, baseline (+ 0.54 m/s, 95% CI: 0.05–1.02) and repeated (+ 1.54 m/s, 95% CI: 0.83–2.26) exposure to long working hours was associated with increased arterial stiffness. No association was observed among participants who retired between follow-ups.
Conclusion
The present study suggests that working long hours during midlife is associated with increased arterial stiffness, among aging workers. Workplace preventive strategies reducing long working hours may be effective to mitigate long-term arterial stiffening.