Job Strain and Social Capital at the Work Place and Their Impact on the Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease

Tina Hannemann, Lund University

Is coronary heart disease (CHD) a result of job strain and social capital differences at the work place? Job strain is analysed as objective measure and, alternatively, as a subjective measure using the Karasek Model. Individual social capital is analysed in a horizontal and vertical dimension. We analyse 13.700 individuals from the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (Sweden), performing a Cox proportional hazard survival analysis coving 15 years of observation. Results are presented as hazard ratios stratified by sex. Occupational group and Karasek job strain groups explain differences in male CHD incidence. Increasing status and job-specific strain are associated with higher CHD rates in men. In contrast, the social environment at work makes a difference for women. Horizontal and vertical social capital assets have direct positive and negative effect on female CHD incidence. Overall, medical and behavioral characteristics are still the driving force behind CHD differences for both sexes.