Early risk factors, job strain, and atherosclerosis among men in their 30s: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

We examined whether preemployment influences confounded the association between job strain and atherosclerosis. We assessed biological, familial, and socioeconomic risk factors of coronary heart disease at 12 to 18 years of age and job strain and carotid artery intima-media thickness at 33 to 39 years of age for a cohort of 358 men. Adolescent risk factors predicted adult intima-media thickness but had little effect on the dose-response relation between greater job strain and greater intima-media thickness. Pre-employment influences did not confound the association between job strain and atherosclerosis.