Blood pressure and working conditions in hospital nurses and nursing assistants. The ORSOSA study

SummaryBackgroundHealthcare workers often are unsatisfied with their working conditions despite declaring to like their jobs. Psychosocial constraints in the workplace have increased recently due to changes in work organization. These psychosocial constraints are linked to cardiovascular diseases.AimTo analyze the relationship between blood pressure levels and organizational occupational risk factors in female hospital workers, using a new questionnaire (the Nursing Work Index-Extended Organization [NWI-EO] questionnaire), which quantifies psychological and organizational work factors.MethodsThe ORSOSA study is a national, multicentre, cohort study conducted in seven voluntary French university hospitals, including 214 work units with a total of 2307 nurses and 1530 nursing assistants.ResultsSystolic and diastolic blood pressure appeared to be significantly associated with age (P