Does Working While III Trigger Serious Coronary Events? The Whitehall II Study

Objective: Working while ill has been found to predict coronary heart disease. We tested if this association was due to triggering. Methods: We used a nested case-control study in an occupational cohort to examine sickness absences during a 2-year period immediately before the first coronary event for 133 cases and 928 matched controls without a history of coronary events. Working while ill was, defined as no absence despite being unhealthy (suboptimal self-rated health or psychological distress). Results: The odds of a coronary event were not higher for cases who worked while ill than for correspondingly unhealthy controls who took > 0 to 14 days of absence per year (OR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.28 to 1.38). These results were little affected by multiple adjustments. Conclusions: We found no evidence that working while ill acts as a short-term, trigger for coronary events. (J Occup Environ Med. 2009; 51:1099-1.104)