Psychosocial work conditions and prediabetes risks: a cross-sectional study in middle-aged men and women

Prediabetes is a condition between diabetes and normoglycemia, and is a state of major health concern, as a large proportion of people with prediabetes are likely to develop diabetes which is associated with high mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether adverse psychosocial work conditions, based on the Job Demand-Control-social support model, increases risk for early dysregulated glucose metabolism in 50–64-year-old men and women. Job conditions were measured with the Swedish Demand-Control-Support questionnaire. Impaired glucose metabolism was assessed by an oral glucose tolerance test. Differences between groups were analyzed with Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc test. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) between Job Demand-control-support and prediabetes outcome were calculated with multiple logistic regression. Results from an adjusted logistic regression model showed that in men and woman separately, an active work situation (high demands-high control) was associated with significantly lower prediabetes risk (OR 0.657, 95% CI 0.513–0.842). This finding is consistent through all logistic regression models with different levels of adjustments. Further, the current study does not lend support for the hypothesis that work conditions characterized by high demands-low control were associated with dysregulated glucose metabolism in men nor women despite accumulation of many life-style related risk factors in the high strain group. In conclusion, we could show that men and women assessing their work conditions as active, had lower risk for prediabetes.