Job stress and hypertension in younger software professionals in India

BACKGROUND: We report the results of a moderately large study (1071) to study the prevalence of hypertension among software professionals in the Indian subcontinent employed at 27 different companies in Bangalore. The focus of our study is on the age gradient of hypertension prevalence and exploring the association of workplace psychosocial predictors of hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used mixed methods sampling strategy, the first stage of which involved stratified sampling to select the clusters of software companies in Bangalore and the second stage involved selecting individual companies through purposive sampling. Job stress questionnaire was self-administered to collect information on job stress and blood pressure classification is done based on 7 (th) report of Joint National Commission. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension among Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services professionals was 31% and pre-hypertension was 45.7%. The prevalence of stage-1 hypertension in the age group of 19-25 years was 18% and 23% in 26-30 years group while the prevalence of stage-2 hypertension in the age group of 19-25 years was 5% and 3% in 26-30 years group. The results indicate that dimensions of workplace autonomy and workplace environment are associated with hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension affects the young urban Indians a decade earlier compared to available evidence. Furthermore, there is an association of autonomy and work-environment with hypertension. This signifies further exploration of underlying endocrine mechanisms. FUNDING: The funding UCLA International Research and Training Program and the Public Health Foundation of India provided the funding for this study. RESULTS: The study was supported through Fogarty/UCLA International Research and Training Program (Grant Number: D43 TW000013) and the Public Health Foundation of India