Background: Hypertension is one of the most vital risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, so we wanted to explore the impact of the interaction between occupational stress and smoking, alcohol drinking and BMI on hypertension in Chinese petrochemical workers.
Methods: A total of 1488 employees participated. Questionnaires included the value of blood pressure, occupational stress (assessed by the effort-reward imbalance scale), demographic factors and work conditions. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore related factors, and the interactions between occupational stress and smoking, alcohol drinking and BMI on hypertension were analyzed using an additive model.
Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 34.3%. Age ≥ 56 (OR = 3.19, 95%CI: 1.841-5.526), male (OR = 1.436, 95%CI: 1.056-1.954), BMI ≥ 25 (OR = 1.86, 95%CI: 1.468-2.346), smoking (OR = 1.52, 95%CI: 1.191-1.951) and alcohol drinking (OR = 1.53, 95%CI: 1.180-1.972), ERI > 1 (OR = 1.50, 95%CI: 1.133-1.960) are risk factors for hypertension, and a higher education level (OR = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.438-0.754) is a protective factor against hypertension. Positive interactions existed between occupational stress and smoking (RERI = 2.134, AP = 0.328, S = 1.635), alcohol drinking (RERI = 2.332, AP = 0.361, S = 1.746) and BMI (RERI = 1.841, AP = 0.340, S = 1.717) on hypertension in petrochemical workers.
Conclusions: Age, gender, educational level, BMI, smoking, alcohol drinking and occupational stress are closely related to the risk of hypertension. There are also positive interactions between occupational stress and alcohol drinking, smoking and BMI, which have a certain impact on hypertension.
Keywords: BMI; alcohol drinking; hypertension; occupational health; occupational stress; smoking.