Elevated blood pressure in air traffic controllers during a period of occupational conflict

Autor: J. Erikssen, K. Rodahl, R. Mundal, Bjørklund Ra
Rok vydání: 1990
Předmět:
Zdroj: Stress Medicine. 6:141-144
ISSN: 1099-1700
0748-8386
Popis: Blood pressure and resting heart rate were examined by standardized procedures in 33 air traffic controllers during a period of occupational conflict in 1981, followed by a reexamination of 27 of them in 1982 when the conflict was resolved, and again in 23 of them in 1988 when there was no conflict. The mean systolic blood pressure in the 27 air traffic controllers in 1982 was 116 mmHg as against 136 in 1981, a highly significant difference (p < 0.001). In 1988 the mean blood pressure was 121 mmHg in the 23 air traffic controllers examined on all three occasions, i.e. still significantly lower than in 1981 and only 5 mmHg higher than in 1982, roughly equivalent to the expected increase due to increase in age. The mean diastolic pressure was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in 1981 (90–87) than in 1982 (75–73) and 1988 (81–78), and thus slightly higher in 1988 than in 1982 as expected, due to age. The resting heart rates were essentially unaffected. The effect of occupational conflict on the blood pressures reported here should be kept in mind when considering blood pressure levels in occupational groups. It may in fact explain some of the conflicting results reported in the literature concerning the blood pressure of air traffic controllers.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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