Ischaemic heart disease among workers in occupations associated with heavy lifting.

OBJECTIVES To investigate a hypothesized positive association between employment in occupations where heavy lifting is likely to occur, and the risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). MATERIAL AND METHODS Male blue-collar workers from Denmark (N = 516,180) were monitored with respect to hospital treatment or death due to IHD, through national registers over the years 2001-2010. Poisson regression was used to estimate relative rates of IHD between "workers in occupations which, according to an expert opinion, are likely to involve heavy lifting" and "other blue-collar workers." Prevalent cases were excluded from the analysis. RESULTS The rate ratio was estimated at 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.94-1.00) for deaths or hospitalizations due to IHD and 1.07 (95% CI: 0.94-1.21) for deaths due to IHD. CONCLUSIONS The results do not support the hypothesis that occupational heavy lifting is an important risk factor for IHD.