The association of psychosocial factors with risk score and risk factors of coronary heart disease

Introduction
Beside the well established biological and behavioral risk factors, psychosocial factors are accepted as important risk factors for coronary heart diseases (CHD). Nevertheless there has been inadequate research on this association in developing countries. The aim of this study is to examine the association between job strain and the risk of CHD and metabolic syndrome among the 30-64 year old residents living in Izmir, Turkey.

Methods
This is a population-based cross sectional study. The study sample was derived with random sampling technique from the employed individuals aged between 30 and 64 who participated in “Balçova’s Heart Project”. The survey was conducted by means of a face to face interview based on the demand-control-support questionnaire applied in participants’ houses between April-June 2010. 191 female and 216 male participants were included in the analyses. T-test, chi-square test, ANCOVA and logistic regression models were used to assess the associations.

Results
Women were found to have higher education levels, have more white-collar jobs, and have better economic status perception than men. 20% of men and 18% of women have been working in high-strained jobs. There was significant association of job strain with neither the Framingham risk score nor metabolic syndrome. The adjustments for education, age, and occupation did not alter the results. The interaction between the social support and job strain was also not significant. Moreover no significant association was found in the separate analyses performed in each major CHD risk factor for job strain and for its each subdomain.

Discussion
Although psychosocial factors are known as important risk factors for CHD in developed countries, the evidence in developing countries is scarce.