(Hypertension. 2001;38:71.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Scientific Contributions |
From the Département de Néphrologie et dHypertension artérielle, Hôpital E. Herriot (J.P.F., M.D., H.R., M.L.), Lyon, France; and Médecine du travail (P.Q.), Rhodia, Saint-Fons, France.
Correspondence to Jean Pierre Fauvel, Département de Néphrologie et dHypertension artérielle, Hôpital E. Herriot, 69437 Lyon, France. E-mail jean-pierre.fauvel{at}chu-lyon.fr
| Abstract |
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Key Words: stress blood pressure ambulatory job strain microalbuminuria
| Introduction |
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| Methods |
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Routine Clinical Examination
At the annual working visit, subjects were given a routine medical examination that included a full history, a physical examination, a body mass index (BMI) determination, and an assessment of alcohol intake. Worksite BP was measured 3 times at the worksite with a mercury sphygmomanometer after the subject had rested 5 minutes in a reclining position. The average of the last 2 (of 3) BP measurements was considered (Table 1). Alcohol intake was ranked in 5 levels by interview: <1 drink per week, <1 drink per day, 1 to 2 drinks per day, 3 to 4 drinks per day, and >4 drinks per day.
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Questionnaire
The self-administered questionnaire was a French version of the job contents questionnaire including, as recommended by Karasek et al,3 18 items to assess job demand and job decision latitude. Each item was rated on a 4-point scale that ranged from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." This French version has been validated a posteriori by Larocque et al5 in white and blue collar workers of the Canadian general population. The 20% of the subjects who reported the highest job demand and the lowest job decision latitude was considered as the high-strain (HS) group and compared with the remaining subjects (non-high-strain [NHS] group).6
Mental Stress
Mental stress was induced by a computerized version of Stroops color conflict test (CWT).7 Successive series of 4 color words written in incongruent colors appeared in random order on the screen. The subjects had to type the color of the word on selected keys from the keyboard. An audio signal was provoked if a wrong response was made. The examiner encouraged subjects to perform the stress test at their maximum speed, but the examiner kept an emotionally neutral attitude throughout the test.
Finapres Recordings
Rest and stress BP were recorded using a Finapres device (model 2300, Ohmeda). The cuff was wrapped around the forefinger of the nondominant arm relying on a table, in which the level was adjusted to obtain <5 mm Hg difference with the previously determined BP (mercury sphygmomanometer). The equipped arm was held in the same position throughout the procedure. After 2 minutes of familiarization, the automatic calibration was switched off and the BP was recorded for 15 minutes. Signal acquisition and data processing were previously described.8 In brief, the analog output from the Finapres was connected to an analog-to-digital converter to perform data acquisition, storage, and analysis. Finapres signals were sampled at a rate of 100 Hz with 8 precision bits. Our own algorithm to detect systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) is accurate enough to compute heart rate so that ECG signal recording was not necessary. Aberrant beats, that never exceeded 10%, were >5% in only 10% of the subjects. The beats always concerned DBP determination, never SBP determination.8 Each patient was recorded during 10 minutes at rest and during 5 minutes of mental stress. Data processing was performed on a 4-minute recording both at rest and during stress after a delay of 1 minute and of 30 seconds, respectively. Rest and stress data were obtained during these two 4-minute periods. Frequency domain analyses of heart rate and SBP oscillations were performed by spectral analysis using the Fast Fourier transformation (FFT) algorithm. The FFT was applied on 342 points from a 4-minute recording resampled at 1.4286 Hz (0.7 seconds) and completed to 512 points by the zero-padding technique to enhance the spectral resolution (1.7 mHz).8 BP variability was expressed as standard deviation and power spectra in the low-frequency band (0.07 to 0.14 Hz) and in the high-frequency band (0.14 to 0.40 Hz).
Ambulatory BP Monitoring
Out of 100 randomly selected subjects, 87 subjects volunteered to wear an ambulatory BP monitor (ABPM; Spacelabs 90207) for 24 hours during a regular workday. Out of the 87 selected volunteers, 70 ambulatory BP monitorings were performed in the 303 included subjects. BP was measured at a 15-minute interval between 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM and at a 30-minute interval during the remaining hours. The diary information allowed the calculation of average working, sleeping, and waking BP. The method used to validate these readings has been previously described.9,10
Urinalysis
Twenty-four-hour urine collection for electrolyte, creatinine, urea, and albuminuria excretion was performed at the worksite and was available in 293 out of the 303 subjects. Subjects were asked to void their bladder for dipstick urinalysis and then to collect their urine for 24 hours. A diary allowed the precise adjustment of urinary excretion data for 24 hours. Urine collection for <23 hours and >25 hours were discarded. Albuminuria was measured by an immunoturbidimetric method (threshold of detection, 6 mg/L). Subjects whose urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) was >30 mg/24 hours were considered microalbuminuric.
Statistical Analysis
The calculated number of subjects to observe a significant (P<0.05) difference in DBP between the 2 job strain groups (20% in the HS group) of 3 mm Hg (standard deviation 7 mm Hg) with a power of 90% was close to 300 subjects. Data are expressed as mean±SEM in text, tables, and figures. Mean values were compared between complementary groups (HS versus NHS and high responder [HR] versus low responder [LR]) using ANCOVA with gender, age, alcohol intake, BMI, occupation, and sodium intake as intersubject factors. Response to stress test was analyzed as change from baseline. Prevalence of microalbuminuria was compared between groups using a
2 test. P<0.05 was considered significant.
| Results |
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Mean clinical characteristics of randomized samples were similar to their respective entire groups (Table 1). Ambulatory BP measurements were performed in 14 HS and 56 NHS group subjects. During working hours, SBP was slightly higher in the HS group whereas DBP was significantly higher (Figure). During the remaining hours, BP was similar between groups (Figure). Heart rate was similar in the HS and NHS groups (63±1 versus 63±1 bpm). Suspected confounding factors (age, gender, BMI, alcohol intake, and sodium intake) were not different between groups, and ANCOVA controlling the above variables provided similar findings.
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Fortunately, randomly selected patients who wore ABPMs were 14 in the HR group and 56 in the LR group. As shown in the Figure, stress reactivity did not influence neither ambulatory BP values during 24-hour, working, and nonworking periods nor heart rate values (62±8 versus 63±1 bpm in the HR versus LR groups).
SBP and heart rate variabilities expressed both as standard deviation and as spectral parameters were not different between complementary groups at rest and during stress (Table 2).
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Among the whole group of normotensive subjects, the prevalence of microalbuminuria was 3.7%. The prevalence of microalbuminuria was significantly higher in the HR group (8.2% versus 2.5% in the LR group; P<0.05), whereas the higher prevalence in the HS group (6.6% versus 3.2% in the NHS group) was not significant.
| Discussion |
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Because of the complexity of personal management of stress that originates from stress perception to the final physiological response, we coupled the assessment of the individual perception of job strain to the determination of individual cardiovascular reactivity to a stress test. The use of a computerized task ensured standardization of the test procedure and may account for the satisfactory reproducibility of our methodology.7 Such an approach used by Steptoe et al26 revealed that job strain was associated with an enhanced BP response to uncontrollable but not to controllable tasks. However, the BP reactivity to the controllable self-paced task was not sufficient (<4 mm Hg for SBP/DBP) to reliably discriminate subjects. Our version of the CWT, which was realized under time and experimenter pressure with an audio stimulus if the response was not accurate, can be considered as an uncontrollable task. The CWT that elicited a sustained and major increase in BP (22±1/10±1 mm Hg for SBP/DBP) could not distinguish subjects for their job strain levels. Thus, our findings do not support a relationship between uncontrollable tasks and job strain. Interestingly, individual reactivity to the laboratory stress test was not involved in the job strain-related increase in BP. This is in contrast to the findings of Matthews et al27 who reported that ambulatory BP (low sampling every 30 minutes) in the subgroup of vulnerable subjects submitted to a variable stress was in part explicated by the perception of strain and by the amplitude of BP reactivity to laboratory stressing. Furthermore, a high BP variability (assessed either by standard deviation or spectral power) at rest and during stress is not related to the job strain effect on BP. Our study confirms that laboratory stress tests, which are of interest to assess physiological responses to the defense reaction, do not reliably reflect daily life stress.28 The higher prevalence of microalbuminuria in the HR group could be related to a slight microvascular impairment29 caused by a higher BP surge during daily life events. This higher BP reactivity is not related to spontaneous BP variability assessed during a short period of BP recording. However, because the prevalence of microalbuminuria in normotensives is low, our results should be interpreted with caution.
The main BP-related factors (alcohol consumption, BMI, sodium intake, age, gender, and occupation), which were equally distributed between complementary groups, did not influence our conclusions. Conversely, because stress is known to favor alcohol intake, it was reported as a potential major link between stress and BP in case-control studies.21 However in France, the people do not drink alcohol to relieve anxiety; thus, it is not related to the job strain level. Case (hypertensives)-control (normotensives) studies could have emphasized the confounding effect of alcohol consumption because chronic alcohol intake is linked to a higher BP.
In conclusion, ambulatory BP monitoring that evaluates working BP is of major interest in analyzing job strain effects on BP. Job strain effects on DBP quantified at 4.5 mm Hg is independent from BP spontaneous variability, BP reactivity to stress tests, and major BP-related factors, such as alcohol intake, age, BMI, and sodium intake. The present cross-sectional study suggests that individual perception of strain should be considered as a cardiovascular risk factor.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received September 27, 2000; first decision October 13, 2000; accepted October 31, 2000.
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