Working at least 49 hours a week linked to hazardous alcohol use

Date: Jan-14-2015 Last year, a survey revealed that Americans are working longer hours than ever before, with almost 4 in 10 people employed full-time working more than 50 hours each week. Now, a new study finds these individuals may be more likely to engage in risky alcohol consumption, putting them at higher risk of alcohol-related health problems - such as liver disease, mental disorders and heart disease.

Do you work more than 49 hours a week? You may be more likely to engage in risky alcohol use.

The researchers, including Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, Finland, publish their findings in The BMJ.

This is not the first study to investigate the downfalls of long working hours. In September last year, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting people who work 61-70 hours a week are at 42% higher risk of coronary heart disease. Another study found that people who work more than 55 hours a week in low-paid jobs were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

But while numerous studies have investigated the association between long working hours and health problems, Vertanen and colleagues note fewer studies have looked at how long working hours influence alcohol use; those that have are "relatively small studies with insufficient power to detect weak or moderate associations," according to the researchers.

This latest study, the team says, is the first systemic analysis of the link between long working hours and alcohol use.

Long working hours may increase risky alcohol use by up to 13%

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of studies involving 333,693 adults from 14 countries, and a prospective analysis of studies involving 100,602 adults from nine countries.

The researchers assessed the number of hours participants worked each week and whether working hours were linked to risky alcohol use - defined as men consuming more than 21 drinks each week and women consuming more than 14 drinks each week.

From the cross-sectional analysis, the team found longer working hours increased the likelihood of risky alcohol consumption by 11%, while the prospective analysis found longer working hours raised the likelihood of risky alcohol use by 12%.

From analyzing individual participant information from 18 prospective studies, the researchers found that people who worked 49-54 hours each week were 13% more likely to engage in risky alcohol use, compared with those who worked 35-40 hours each week. People who worked 55 hours a week or more were 12% more likely to engage in risky alcohol use.

These results remained even after accounting for participants' sex, age, region and socioeconomic status, according to the researchers.

Vertanen and colleagues say their findings may be driven by participants' work environment and individual characteristics. "One view is that alcohol use alleviates stress that is caused by work pressure and working conditions," they explain."Working overtime and characteristics such as high demands and lack of control might contribute to stress at work."

Findings support recommendations restricting working hours

The European Union Working Time Directive recommends that employees in EU countries work no more than 48 hours each week, and the researchers say their findings support such recommendations.

The team notes, however, that many individuals still choose to work more than 48 hours a week or are under pressure to do so - something they say is most common among people of a higher socioeconomic status, who often work under well-educated professionals with high employee expectations.

"Individuals whose working hours exceed standard recommendations are more likely to increase their alcohol use to levels that pose a health risk," say the researchers, adding:

"The workplace is an important setting for the prevention of alcohol misuse because more than half of the adult population are employed.

Risky alcohol use is an issue in the workplace because it can have adverse and serious effects on employees, such as absenteeism, inefficiency, poor performance, impaired decision making, damaged customer relations and injuries at work."

In the US, however, the Fair Labor Standards Act does not provide recommendations for the number of hours an employee can work each week, and in an editorial linked to the study, Cassandra A. Okechukwu - of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA - notes there is increasing pressure for employees to work longer hours.

"Given mounting pressure to exclude an increasing proportion of workers from current standards that limit working hours in Europe and other developed countries," she adds, "long working hours is
an exposure that we cannot afford to ignore."

Based on their findings, the team says it may be worth workplaces putting strategies in place to help employees who work long hours restrict their alcohol consumption.

"Brief interventions by health care personnel that involve assessment of the individual's drinking habits in combination with feedback about health risks might be useful in efforts to reduce problems with alcohol use in the working population," they add.

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that six Americans die each day from alcohol poisoning.

Written by Honor Whiteman

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Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.