Increased risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with occupational stress in Chinese policemen: A 4-year cohort study

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) 2016-11, Vol.95 (46), p.e5359-e5359
• Main Authors: Li, Chen, Xing, Jing-Jing, Shan, An-Qi, Leng, Ling, Liu, Jin-Chuan, Yue, Song, Yu, Hao, Chen, Xi, Tian, Feng-Shi, Tang, Nai-Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; China - epidemiology; Humans; Incidence; Male; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - epidemiology; Observational Study; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Police; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000005359

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and occupational stress have been recognized as major public health concerns. We aimed to explore whether occupational stress was associated with NAFLD in a police population.A total of 6559 male police officers were recruited for this prospective study in April 2007. Among them, 2367 eligible subjects participated in follow-up from 2008 to 2011. NAFLD was diagnosed based on standard criteria. Occupational stress was evaluated by Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised scores.The incidence of NAFLD was 31.2% in the entire police. After adjusting for traditional risk factors, moderate occupational stress (MOS), high occupational stress (HOS), and high personal strain (HPS) were risk factors (MOS: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.237, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.049-1.460; HOS: HR = 1.727, 95% CI = 1.405-2.124; HPS: HR = 3.602, 95% CI = 1.912-6.787); and low occupational stress (LOS) and low personal strain (LPS) were protective factors (LOS: HR = 0.366, 95% CI = 0.173-0.776; LPS: HR = 0.490, 95% CI = 0.262-0.919) for NAFLD in the entire police cohort. HOS and HPS remained robust among traffic police.HOS and HPS were independent predictors for the development of NAFLD in a Chinese police population. Additional future prospective investigations are warranted to validate our findings.