Self-employment linked to favorable CVD risk profile among minority and nonminority women
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, June 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Work context seems to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, with variation across race, ethnicity, and sex, according to a study published online May 30 in BMC Public Health.
Kimberly Narain, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1999 to 2018 to examine the association of self-employed status with CVD risk factors across racial and ethnic minority status and sex groups among working, nonpregnant adults aged 30 to 62 years. The sample included 19,395 working adults.
The researchers found that self-employment was negatively associated with obesity, physical inactivity, and poor sleep duration among nonminority women (percentage differences, −7.4, −7.0, and −9.4 percent, respectively). Among minority women, negative associations were seen for self-employment with poor diet, physical inactivity, and poor sleep duration (percentage differences, −6.7, −7.3, and −8.1 percent). Self-employment was negatively associated with poor diet and hypertension among nonminority men (percentage differences, −6.5 and 5.7 percent).
“There is a relationship between self-employment and heart disease risk factors and this relationship seems to be stronger in women relative to men,” Narain said in a statement. “It is imperative to increase our understanding of how the work environment gets under our skin so we can come up with ways to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy work environment.”
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