@article {Faruquejech-2021-216678, author = {Md Omar Faruque and Elisabeth Framke and Jeppe Karl S{\o}rensen and Ida Elisabeth Huitfeldt Madsen and Reiner Rugulies and Judith M Vonk and H Marike Boezen and Ute B{\"u}ltmann}, title = {Psychosocial work factors and blood pressure among 63 800 employees from The Netherlands in the Lifelines Cohort Study}, elocation-id = {jech-2021-216678}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.1136/jech-2021-216678}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {Objectives Previous studies on the association between psychosocial work factors and blood pressure mainly focused on specific occupations or populations and had limited sample sizes. We, therefore, investigated the associations between psychosocial work factors and blood pressure in a large general working population in the Netherlands.Methods We included 63 800 employees from the Netherlands, aged 18{\textendash}65 years, with blood pressure measurements and a reliable job code at baseline. Psychosocial work factors (job strain, effort{\textendash}reward imbalance (ERI) and emotional demands) in the current job were estimated with three recently developed psychosocial job exposure matrices. To examine the associations, regression analyses adjusted for covariates (age, sex, body mass index, education, monthly income, pack-years, smoking, alcohol consumption and antihypertensive medication (not included for hypertension)) were performed.Results Higher job strain was associated with higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) (B (regression coefficients) (95\% CI) 2.14 (1.23 to 3.06)) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (B (95\% CI) 1.26 (0.65 to 1.86)) and with higher odds of hypertension (OR (95\% CI) 1.43 (1.17 to 1.74)). Higher ERI was associated with higher DBP (B (95\% CI) 4.37 (3.05 to 5.68)), but not with SBP or hypertension. Higher emotional demands were associated with lower SBP (B (95\% CI) -0.90 (-1.14 to -0.66)) and lower odds of hypertension ((OR) (95\% CI) 0.91 (0.87 to 0.96)).Conclusions In the general working population, employees in jobs with high job strain and ERI have higher blood pressure compared with employees with low job strain and ERI. Emotional demands at work are inversely associated with blood pressure.Registration is required to obtain data from the Lifelines cohort study. It is not permitted to deposit the Lifelines data in an open data repository. To obtain data, used in the current study, interested researchers should contact the Lifelines Cohort Study (www.lifelines.nl).}, issn = {0143-005X}, URL = {https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2021/07/02/jech-2021-216678}, eprint = {https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2021/07/02/jech-2021-216678.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Epidemiology \& Community Health} }