Work conditions can predict development of diabetes in healthy employees, a new study has found.

Cases of type 2 diabetes continue to rise in the US. And while the development of the disease is more commonly associated with risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and physical inactivity, research has shown that stress can also have a significant impact.

Now Dr. Sharon Toker of Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Management has found that low levels of social support and high levels of stress in the workplace can accurately predict the development of diabetes over the long term – even in employees who appear to be healthy otherwise.

The study contributes to an ongoing body of research linking work conditions to physical and mental health.

The researchers’ 3.5-year-long study of male and female employees established that work conditions had a preventative or predictive effect on the development of type 2 diabetes.

Participants who reported having a high level of social support at work had a 22 percent lesser chance of developing diabetes over the course of the study. And those who described themselves as either over- or under-worked were 18 percent more likely to develop the disease.

The results were controlled for various risk factors including age, family history, activity level, and body mass index.

Dr. Toker says these findings paint a grim picture, with a worrying rise in the rate of diabetes in the researchers’ middle-aged study cohort, which had a mean age of 48.

BDST: 1539 HRS, Nov-28, 2013