Study links long work hours to coronary heart disease

Seoul, South Korea – Working more than 40 hours per week increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease, indicates a new study from Seoul National University.

Researchers studied 8,350 Korean adults from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2009). Participants answered questions about their working hours and health, and underwent physical exams and measurements to calculate a Framingham risk score, which estimates 10-year cardiovascular risk.

The more hours that workers logged, the more likely they were to develop the disease within a decade, researchers said. They also found that participants who worked:

• 61 to 70 hours per week had a 42 percent increased likelihood of developing coronary heart disease
• 71 to 80 hours had a 63 percent increased likelihood
• More than 80 hours had a 94 percent increased likelihood

The study was published in the August issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.