The Association between Occupational Categories and Incidence of Cardiovascular Events: A Cohort Study in Iranian Male Population

BACKGROUND: Besides the traditional cardiovascular risk factor, some novel risk factors like occupation and career can play an important role in cardiovascular disease (CVDs) incidence. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between occupational categories and their positions with cardiovascular events (CVEs) in an Iranian male population. METHODS: We followed 2134 men aged 35–65 years for 14 years during the Isfahan Cohort Study (2001–2015) for CVEs including ischemic heart disease and stroke. Firstly, Occupations were classified into 10 categories of International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO). Each category was then classified into one of the 4 pre-specified categories, namely high/low skilled white collars and high/low skilled blue collars. White-collar workers referred to managerial and professional workers in contrast with blue collar workers, whose job requires manual labor. RESULTS: The mean age of studied participants was 46.9 (SD 8.3) years. 286 CVE incidents were recorded; unstable angina had the highest rate (46%); fatal stroke, the lowest (3%). There were no significant difference was observed between white and blue collars in terms of CVE incidence, as well as their high and low skilled subgroups. Hazard ratio analysis indicated a significantly higher risk of CVEs only for low-skilled white-collar workers (crude HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.13); this was not significant after adjustment for confounding variables. CONCLUSION: There is no association between occupational categories and incidence of cardiovascular events among Iranian male population.