Toxic Workplace Is Bad For Heart Health, Study Finds

Yes, a toxic workplace can lead to several heart problems. A new study has suggested a link between cardiovascular diseases and mistrust in the workplace.

The research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health earlier this year stated that mistrust can be listed along with the other risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol and poor diet, for the working population.

Cardiovascular diseases are described as the major cause for death worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO). The international health death stated that more people die due to this chronic illness than any other diseases.

In the United States, one in every four deaths is caused due to cardiovascular diseases. Nearly 610,000 people in the country die due to this illness every year, reported Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The study titled Trust in the Work Environment and Cardiovascular Disease Risk focussed on the role played by trust as “an important aspect of workplace social capital” in improving the health of an employee.

The research stated the behavior of a supervisor plays an important role in improving the health of a worker. According to it, the characteristic of negative work-environment contributes greatly to the risk of cardiovascular diseases among full time employees.

“Our results reinforce the notion voiced elsewhere that supervisor support is essential to a comprehensive approach to worker safety and health; issues of managerial trust are worthy of inclusion in a Total Worker Health framework,” stated the researchers of the study.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the data of 412,000 people that they collected from Gallup. The data was based on the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index (WBI) survey, which was conducted through computer-assisted telephone interviews.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that people who worked in a toxic environment were at higher risk of developing several illness related to heart diseases, like high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.

The researchers concluded their study by stating that “Workplace intervention programs for CVD and other chronic health conditions should consider addressing this aspect of workplace social capital, and supervisor competencies and behavior in particular, with proper training as a potential means to improve worker health.”