Worker health linked to well-being, wealth

MANHATTAN, Kan., March 19 (UPI) -- Employee well-being is a significant predictor of one's cardiovascular health as measured by pulse product, U.S. researchers suggest.

Thomas A. Wright of Kansas State University found a link between physical and mental well-being that employees and employers may be able to capitalize on -- because better employee health can translate into more productivity and wealth.

He said both physical and psychological well-being should be considered in terms of efficiency. One's psychological well-being is best considered in terms of an efficiency ratio -- the relative presence of positive emotions and the relative absence of negative emotions.

Likewise, Wright's research reintroduces an efficiency-based measure of cardiovascular health that challenges the traditional approach of focusing individually on systolic blood pressure, which measures the heart at work, and diastolic blood pressure, which measures the heart during the resting phase between heartbeats.

The composite cardiovascular measure -- pulse product -- is defined in terms of an efficiency-based ratio -- the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure, multiplied by the pulse rate and divided by 100.

Wright and colleagues found that while systolic and diastolic blood pressure measures were not individually related to psychological well-being, pulse product was. Levels of psychological well-being were more likely to have lower pulse products.

The preliminary findings, published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, indicated that those with pulse product scores in the mid-40s and higher may have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and should consider consulting a physician.