ASSOCIATION OF CHANGE IN THE TYPE OF JOB WITH PREVALENCE OF COMPONENTS OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME-SPECIAL REFERENCE TO JOB STRESS

Objective It is well established that job stress is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. The relationship with the metabolic syndrome, however, has received only limited attention. The present study was designed to investigate associations between change of the type of job and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome components from the aspect of on-the-job stress and alteration in life style. Methods Thirty-six male workers of the manufacturing department were transferred to the carsales department at the same automobile company in 1992 to 1993. These same workers were transferred back to the manufacturing department after two years. We compared the ˆrst health-check data before the transfer in 1992 (Term A), a second set of data two years after transfer in 1994～95 (Term B) and a third set of data two years following transfer back to the manufacturing department in 1996～1998 (Term C). The workers were requested to provide information about drinking and smoking habits, and answer Karasek's questionnaire and a simple stress questionnaire in order to clarify the possibility of job stress