Lifetime occupation assignment and hypertension analysis in a survivor cohort of older adults

Standard codes were assigned to each of up to 3 jobs reported by 12,498 healthy Australian participants of the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP) aged ≥ 70 years. Ten job categories for men (n=5444; 92.5%) and 13 for women (n=6370; 90.8%) were generated by grouping like jobs. Inter-group distinctiveness was demonstrated by education, socio-economic status, and lifestyle factors for men and women for the occupational groups. Among men, the highest odds of age-adjusted hypertension were in general managers (1.40; 95% CI 1.08, 1.81) and tradespersons (1.29; 1.05, 1.58), with associations attenuated after controlling for lifestyle factors. Among women, the highest odds of hypertension were in nurses (1.40; 95% CI 1.05, 1.87) and clerks/secretaries (1.28; 1.01, 1.62) in multivariate analysis. This analysis indicates that those who are healthy at ≥ 70 years with a healthy lifestyle may suffer minimal detriment in regard to hypertension status from lifetime occupation.