Women, occupation, and risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Despite the many investigations of male workers, little is known about cardiovascular risk attributable to occupational class or occupational exposures among women. Results from a previous investigation suggest that the relationship between these factors may be different in women, for whom lack of workplace social support may be important in cardiovascular morbidity. The finding that women in blue-collar occupations had over three times the rate of coronary heart disease compared with their white-collar equivalents is intriguing. Modest and inconclusive data about the relationship between occupational stress and health status in women suggest that class and level of control may be of importance in women's experience of occupational stress.