Bullying experiences can lead to heart attacks
30.09.2016 22:30
It is now proven that experiences of bullying at work are associated with a higher risk of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. Researchers from IMS Health have now been able to show that the body is also affected by bullying, because psychological terror in the workplace is associated with an increased risk of damage to the cardiovascular system. The study was based on anonymized treatment courses from general medical practices.
The researchers analyzed documentation from doctors from private practices based on the retrospective “IMS” Disease Analyzer database. The analysis included anonymized treatment histories of 7,374 patients in whom family doctors documented a bullying experience for the first time between January 2005 and December 2014. 67% of these people were women. Patients were on average 38 years old, with 35% under 30 and 18% over 50 years old.
These patients were compared with others without documentation of bullying, with the selected control group matching the bullying victims in terms of age, gender, follow-up time, treating physician and co-diagnoses (diabetes, hypertension, overweight, hyperlipidemia). Both groups of patients were followed up for a maximum of five years; the mean follow-up time was 3.4 years.
Bullying increases the risk of heart attack, angina and stroke
Within the five years after the index date (bullying documentation for patients with bullying experience or a random date for the control group), 2.9 % in the bullying group, but only 1.4% in the control group, suffered a so-called cardiovascular event, which is a means a statistically significant difference. Calculations using a regression model showed that the risk of a cardiovascular event was increased by 69% due to the bullying experience. The effect was strongest in myocardial infarction (203% increase in risk) and weakest in stroke (56%). It was significant in the most common event, angina pectoris (79 %), which is often a precursor to myocardial infarction. Strokes were diagnosed in only a few patients. Other factors associated with an increased risk of heart attack, angina pectoris or stroke were older age, male gender and obesity.
Only non-fatal events can be recorded with the existing data. However, the significance of the results goes further: “Because some of the cardiovascular events are fatal, it can be assumed that their frequency is even higher and the negative effect of bullying is even greater. In addition, depression and anxiety disorders in response to bullying are themselves linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular events. This means that overall the level of concern is likely to be even higher than expected. Since bullying is not a trivial offense, but rather a behavior that increases the risk of a serious illness or can influence its development, it is important to react to it in order to help those affected. One way, although certainly not the only one, is individual cardiovascular health management, as the nature of cardiovascular events varies. There is still a need for research on this,” summarizes Prof. Dr. Karel Kostev, head of research at IMS Health.