Study reveals bad bosses can really make you sick

Employee health has already been badociated with toxic workplaces, but new research suggests that a major principle of work incivility – the toxic boss – particularly increases the risk of heart disease.

In fact, according to a study published in the International Review of Environmental and Public Health Research, which presents data on 400,000 US workers, employees who were suspicious of their supervisors or felt that their bosses did not create an open and confident environment had increased in the probability of having four risk factors for heart disease or more.

Risk factors are part of the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 badessment and include: blood pressure, total cholesterol, blood glucose, body mbad index, smoking, physical activity, and diet.

Among those surveyed, men who mistrusted their leader were 22% more likely to smoke, have diabetes, poor diet, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Women had an increased risk of 29% for the same factors.

Although the study is limited as a cross-sectional examination that can not be considered a causal link and that it is necessary to have additional information to badess the influence From confounding variables such as autonomy and work schedules, the researchers believe that the dataset is bulky, nationally representative and supports the idea. this supervisor behavior is badociated with employees' heart health.

According to Atlanta Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. About 610,000 people die each year from heart disease. That's 1 in 4 deaths.

The authors of your study advise employers to prioritize the training of supervisors and encourage the creation of a climate of open trust between the bosses and employees to solve this problem. They also recommend work place intervention programs that specifically target the seven risk factors of Life's Simple 7, such as access to nutritious foods and workstations allowing for sit, stand and walk.

Learn more about prevention and care at cdc.gov.

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