Table 1.
Characteristics of studies
| Study | Design* | Setting/data source | Sample | Outcomes | Variables accounted for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akerstedt et al, 2004 | Retrospective cohort | Swedish Living Conditions Survey | 22 411 | All cause mortality | Age, stress, physically strenuous work, smoking, chronic disease |
| Alfredsson et al, 1985 | Retrospective cohort | Swedish census data | 958 096 | Myocardial infarction | Age, county |
| Allesoe et al, 2011 | Prospective cohort | Danish Nurse Cohort Study | 12 116 | Coronary events | Age, family history, diabetes, menopause, BMI, smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure time activity, physical activity at work |
| Babisch et al, 2005 | Case-control | 32 major hospitals in Berlin, Germany | 4115 | Myocardial infarction | Age, diabetes, hypertension, family history, smoking, BMI, employment status, living without a partner, noise sensitivity, education, sex†, hospital† |
| Biggi et al, 2008 | Retrospective cohort | Municipal workers in Milan, Italy | 468 | Coronary events | No covariate adjustment |
| Boggild et al, 1999 | Prospective cohort | Copenhagen Male Study | 5207 | Coronary events, all cause mortality | Age, social class, sleep, tobacco, weight, height, fitness |
| Brown et al, 2009 | Prospective cohort | Nurses’ Health Study | 80 108 | Ischaemic stroke | Age, questionnaire cycle, physical activity, BMI, alcohol, fruit and vegetable intake, menopausal status, smoking, hormone replacement, aspirin use, diabetes, coronary disease, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, husband’s education, snoring, sleep duration, atrial fibrillation |
| Ellingsen et al, 2007 | Retrospective cohort | Employees of fertilizer plant in Doha, Qatar | 2562 | Coronary and cardiovascular events | No covariate adjustment |
| Falger and Schouten, 1992 | Case-control | Two large hospitals in Netherlands | 458 | Myocardial infarction | Age, exhaustion, smoking, education, hospital site† |
| Fujino et al, 2006 | Prospective cohort | Survey data in Japan | 17 649 | Coronary, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and all cause mortality | Age, smoking, alcohol, education, perceived stress, past medical history, BMI, hours of walking, hours of exercise, job type |
| Fukuoka et al, 2005 | Case-control | Five hospitals in Japan | 94 | Myocardial infarction | Age†, work status†, sex† |
| Haupt et al, 2008 | Retrospective cohort | Survey data in West Pomerania, Germany | 2510 | Myocardial infarction | Age, sex, food frequency score, socioeconomic status, smoking |
| Hermansson et al, 2007 | Case-control | Survey data in Sweden | 607 | Ischaemic stroke | Age, smoking, education, job strain, BP, serum triglycerides, cholesterol, sex†, survey†, survey date†, locale |
| Hublin et al, 2010 | Prospective cohort | Population based twin cohort in Finland | 20 142 | Coronary mortality, cardiovascular events | Age, marital status, social class, education, smoking, binge drinking, alcohol, hypertension, BMI, conditioning physical activity, life satisfaction, diurnal type, sleep length, use of hypnotics or tranquillisers, physical workload, working pace |
| Karlsson et al, 2005 | Retrospective cohort | Pulp and paper workers in Sweden | 5442 | Coronary, stroke related, and all cause mortality | Age, duration of employment |
| Kawachi et al, 1995 | Prospective cohort | Nurses’ Health Study | 79 109 | Myocardial infarction, coronary events, coronary and all cause mortality, cardiovascular events | Age, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, past oral contraceptive use, current use of hormonal replacement, parental MI before age 60, alcohol, physical activity, BMI, aspirin use, fifths of vitamin E, follow-up period, husband’s education |
| Knutsson et al, 1986 | Prospective cohort | Pulp and paper works in Sweden | 504 | Coronary events | Age, duration of exposure, smoking, family status |
| Knutsson et al, 1999 | Case-control | Survey data in Sweden | 4648 | Myocardial infarction | Age†, sex†, residence†, smoking, job strain, education |
| Koller, 1983 | Retrospective cohort | Oil refinery workers in Austria | 301 | Coronary and cardiovascular events | Age†, duration of employment† |
| Laugsand et al, 2011 | Prospective cohort | Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (survey in Norway) | 52 610 | Myocardial infarction | Age, sex, marital status, education, shift work, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, BMI, physical activity, smoking, depression, poor sleep |
| Liu and Tanaka, 2002 | Case-control | 22 hospitals in Japan | 705 | Myocardial infarction | Age†, sex†, residence† |
| McNamee et al, 1996 | Case-control | Nuclear plant workers | 934 | Coronary mortality | Age†, smoking, BMI, height, systolic BP, diastolic BP, job status, duration of employment, year of starting work† |
| Netterstrom et al, 1999 | Case-control | Two Danish hospitals | 252 | Myocardial infarction | Age†, sex† |
| Rafnsson and Gunnarsdottir, 1990 | Retrospective cohort | Fertiliser plant workers in Iceland | 603 | Coronary and all cause mortality | Age, calendar year |
| Steenland and Fine, 1996 | Case-control | Heavy equipment plant workers (US) | 944 | Coronary mortality | Age, worksite, race |
| Tarumi, 1997 | Retrospective cohort | Japanese steel industry workers | 9141 | Cardiovascular and all cause mortality | Age, job site location, blue collar status† |
| Taylor and Pocock (reanalysed by Knutsson et al, 2004) | Retrospective cohort | 10 industrial organisations in Britain | 8767 | Coronary and cerebrovascular mortality, cardiovascular and total mortality | Age, calendar period, sex† |
| Taylor et al, 1972 | Retrospective cohort | 29 industrial organisations in Britain | 1930 | Cardiovascular events | Age†, organisation†, occupation† |
| Tuchsen, 1993 | Prospective cohort | Danish survey data | 406 969 | Coronary events | Age, sex† |
| Tuchsen et al, 2006 | Prospective cohort | Danish survey data | 5517 | Coronary and cardiovascular events | Annoying noise, coldness, conflicts at work, high cognitive demands, ergonomic exposure, job insecurity, passive smoking, monotonous tasks, low decision authority, heat, walking or standing for long hours at work, low social support, BMI, current smoking |
| Vertin, 1978 | Prospective cohort | Viscose rayon factory workers | 200 | Coronary events | Carbon disulfide exposure† |
| Virkunnen et al, 2006 | Prospective cohort | Helsinki Heart Study (clinical trial) | 1804 | Coronary events | Age, smoking, systolic BP, cholesterol, BMI, gemfibrozil use, noise, physical workload |
| Virtanen and Notkola, 2002 | Retrospective cohort | Finnish census data | 385 500 | Cerebrovascular and cardiovascular mortality | Age, marital status, professional status, education, income, socioeconomic status, job exposure variables |
| Yadegarfar and McNamee, 2008 | Case-control | Nuclear plant workers in Britain | 1270 | Coronary mortality | Age†, year of starting work†, smoking, systolic BP, diastolic BP, BMI, height, work status, duration employment, social class |
BMI=body mass index; BP=blood pressure.
*All studies used day workers as comparison group, with four exceptions that used general population controls—Alfredsson et al, Rafnsson et al, Taylor et al, and Tuchsen 1993.
†Matching or stratifying variable.