Effort-Reward Imbalance at Work and Overcommitment in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI): Associations with Return to Work 6 Months After AMI.

This was a longitudinal observational registry analysis, so it reports associations rather than the effect of an intervention. The regression analysis used 239 patients with complete covariable information, while 286 patients had return-to-work data. The study had estimated that at least 240 patients were needed for a regression model with 10 covariables, and the fully adjusted models included additional covariates. Participants with missing return-to-work information were more likely to be female, diabetic, stressed at work, financially burdened, and to have worse quality of life, higher perceived stress, and higher overcommitment. The sample was mostly male (83.6%) and married (76.1%), and only included people with regular paid employment of at least 10 hours per week and sufficient German language skills. The study did not specifically assess socioeconomic status. The primary ERI association was null, and unadjusted reward and overcommitment findings did not remain significant in the fully adjusted model. Follow-up was restricted to 6 months for this analysis, although the parent study also collected 12-month data.

Deutsche Stiftung für Herzforschung funded the work. The supplied text does not provide an author conflict-of-interest list or state whether the funder designed, analysed, or wrote the study.

Do not conclude that reducing pre-AMI work stress or overcommitment will improve return to work. The ERI association was not statistically significant in the age/sex-adjusted or fully adjusted models, and overcommitment was not significant in the fully adjusted model.