Long working hours may be a risk factor…

Long working hours may be a risk factor for decline in cognitive function.

Press release abstract

Long working hours may predict decline in cognitive function, says recent research, coordinated by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London. Results were published in the international American Journal of Epidemiology. In Finland overwork is most common in information technology, administration, and transport branches.

Abstract

This study examined the association between long working hours and cognitive function in middle age. Data were collected in 1997–1999 (baseline) and 2002–2004 (follow-up) from a prospective study of 2,214 British civil servants who were in full-time employment at baseline and had data on cognitive tests and covariates. A battery of cognitive tests (short-term memory, Alice Heim 4-I, Mill Hill vocabulary, phonemic fluency, and semantic fluency) were measured at baseline and at follow-up. Compared with working 40 hours per week at most, working more than 55 hours per week was associated with lower scores in the vocabulary test at both baseline and follow-up. Long working hours also predicted decline in performance on the reasoning test (Alice Heim 4-I).

Similar results were obtained by using working hours as a continuous variable; the associations between working hours and cognitive function were robust to adjustments for several potential confounding factors including age, sex, marital status, education, occupation, income, physical diseases, psychosocial factors, sleep disturbances, and health risk behaviors. This study shows that long working hours may have a negative effect on cognitive performance in middle age.

I can’t say that I have noticed anything, even after having worked 1600+ hours overtime second half-year 2008, but still; this is alarming news. Too much overtime cannot be healthy. (Hey, wait! My cognitive skills may be damaged. Maybe that’s why I haven’t noticed anything?)

Introduction

Long working hours are common worldwide; for example, in the European Union member states, 12%–17% of employees worked overtime in 2001 (1). Long working hours have been found to be associated with cardiovascular and immunologic reactions, reduced sleep duration, unhealthy lifestyle (2–8), and adverse health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, subjective health complaints, fatigue (2–7), and depression (8). There is increasing evidence to suggest the importance of midlife risk factors for later dementia (9). Furthermore, the link between cognitive impairment and later life dementia is clearly established (10, 11). Thus, it is important to examine risk factors for poor cognition in midlife, and there is little research on the potential effects of long working hours on cognition among middle-aged persons.

Well, that says it all. No more overtime!

Read the full article here, or download it in PDF format; here.