Losing your job may make you sick: Study

Laid off employees are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with health conditions such as hypertension, heart disease and arthritis than those who remain continuously employed, the study reveals.

With more than half a million people having lost their jobs in the month of April alone, the corresponding health issues can be grave, researchers concern.

"In today's economy, job loss can happen to anybody," Kate Strully, researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, said. "We need to be aware of the health consequences of losing our jobs and do what we can to alleviate the negative effects."

Study details
8,125 people, including 3,359 white-collar workers and 1,851 blue-collar workers, were enrolled for the purpose. Corresponding health and employment data was collected thrice- in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

Reasons for lay off - downsized, fired, quit, or forced to leave because of workplace closure - were also collected by the researchers.

Data analysis revealed that workers who were forced to leave job were twice more likely to develop a new ailment like high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease, as against people who remained continuously employed.

Also, workers who got fired or downsized were 43 percent likely to develop a health ailment.

Being lucky enough, even if one manages to find another job, the employee still stands an increased risk of developing health problems, stemming from the early job loss, the researchers found.

“It did not matter whether the laid-off workers had found new employment; they still had a 1 in 10 chance of developing a new health condition,” Strully marked.

Only 6 percent of the people who remained employed throughout developed a health ailment during the study span, researchers reported.

Listing the reasons on how job loss increases the risk of health problems, Strully stated, “There are a lot of life changes that can go along with unemployment, including a loss of health insurance and income, and possibly a decline in healthy habits.”

“People may have more trouble quitting smoking after a job loss, or it's harder to eat a healthy diet," she said. "But additionally there's this issue of psychological stress that goes along with it."

The analysis was made by the Panel Study of Income Dynamics at the University of Michigan. Results appear in the May 8 issue of Demography.