Job stress and smoking in the Dutch labour force

Background: This study examined the associations between components of Kara sek's job strain model, i.e, job demands and job control, and smoking behav iour among men and women in the Dutch labour force. Methods: There were com puted adjusted associations for men and women separately by means of multin omial log-linear analysis. The adjustments were made for age and socioecono mic status. The data concerned self reports from the quality of life survey s (QLSs) in 1994-1995 of Statistics Netherlands. Results: The combination o f high job demands and low job control (job strain) was not related to smok ing behaviour among men or women. Neither were high job demands related to smoking. However, we found significant associations for job control, althou gh only in men. Men in the highest tertile of job control were less often s mokers of both one to nine cigarettes and over 20 cigarettes a day than men in the lowest tertile. The corresponding odds ratios were 0.68 (95% CI: 0. 47-0.99) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.50-0.98). Conclusion: The QLS study provided f urther support for the inverse association between job control and smoking in men. The findings suggest the need for a sex specific approach in studyi ng job stress-related smoking hazards. Perhaps more attention should be giv en to the duration of exposure to job stress and to the home-work interface in working women.