High job strain decreases risk of mortality in white-collar women

Work defined by high job demand and also high control, a so-called 'active job', decreased the risk of mortality in white-collar women, the Finnish study published in BMJ Open found.

Women in 'active jobs' are usually the most highly educated, and within that group the early mortality rate is lower compared to less-educated women, which might partly explain the finding. However, the result might also indicate that job strain has a different effect on health among men and women, say Dr. von Bonsdorff.

In 1981, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health launched this follow-up on nearly 6,000 public sector employees working in white-collar and blue-collar professions. Register-based mortality data was linked to the dataset for the entire follow-up time.