MacDonald LA, et al. – This research incorporated an inquiry of the association between employment, perceived stress, work–related stress, and family caregiving with participation in a longitudinal US community–based cardiovascular health study of black and white men and women aged ≥45 years. Employment and stress yielded limited evidence of selection bias, within a large US community–based cohort. Nevertheless, a requirement was brought to light of the enrollment procedures to regard possible barriers to participation among wage–employed individuals.

Methods

• An estimation was performed of the prevalence ratios and confidence intervals for the completion of the second-stage (S2) of a two-stage enrollment process by employment (status, type), and stress (perceived stress, work-related stress, caregiving), adjusting for age, sex, race, region, income, and education.
• An analysis was similarly conducted of the eligibility and consent for a follow-up occupational survey.

Results

• Wage- but not self-employed participants displayed a lesser tendency than the unemployed to complete S2.
• The S2 completion did not differ by stress, among the employed.
• Nevertheless, family caregivers with a short time burden of care (<2-hours/day) exhibited greater likelihood of completing S2, compared to non-caregivers.
• Higher eligibility and participationwas reported in the follow-up occupational survey among those employed (versus unemployed) at enrollment.
• It did not correlate with enrollment stress levels.