A high-pressure deadline at work can increase risk for a myocardial infarction within the next 24 hours by six-fold, according to an article in the January issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The current research involved over 3,500 people, most of whom were participants in the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP). The trial monitored the number of first myocardial infarctions in healthy people who aged between 45 and 70 years at the start of the study in the early 1990s.

The research fell into three parts, using surveys and interviews with the participants. The first part explored whether specific life events within the preceding 12 months increased risk for myocardial infarction.

The second part explored the impact of working life events within the previous week in more detail. The third part analyzed whether an accumulation of life events over the preceding 12 months affected risk.

The results showed that work stress featured heavily in risk for myocardial infarction. Short term, but intense, pressure seemed to have a significantly greater impact on the heart than accumulated stress over 12 months.

Men were 80 percent more likely to have an infarction if they had experienced a conflict at work within the preceding 12 months. The risk increased further if they felt strongly affected by it. For women, a change in financial circumstances tripled risk.

Women were also three times as likely, and men six times as likely, to have a myocardial infarction if they had taken on increased responsibilities at work, particularly when these were viewed negatively.

The second part of the study showed that around 8 percent of people interviewed had experienced a life event associated with work the day before their myocardial infarction. This was much higher than the proportion of people who had faced events unrelated to work.

A high pressure deadline increased risk within the next 24 hours by a factor of six. Being put in a competitive situation at work doubled the risk, and being praised by a manager more than doubled the risk, although the researchers concluded that this correlation was probably associated with meeting a high-pressure deadline.

After adjusting for other known risk factors, no link was found between accumulated stressful life events in the preceding year and the risk of myocardial infarction.