Working for yourself can offer several key perks, including greater flexibility and autonomy that might be lacking in a more traditional work structure. But could self-employment also boost cardiovascular health? New long-term research suggests it could — among women, at least. Those who were self-employed were less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, and reported higher amounts of physical activity than women who drew wages or a salary.
“The study brings to light that there may actually be health-related benefits to enabling women to take charge of their employment and the way they choose to work,” says Dr. Emily Lau, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who specializes in women’s cardiovascular health. “It’s really timely, since as a society the pandemic confronted us with questions about how we should be thinking about work landscapes and whether traditional work structures offer the best way to move forward.”
Interesting, but not conclusive
The new study, which was published in BMC Women’s Health, drew on data from a large, long-term health and retirement study underway at the University of Michigan. While intriguing, its findings are far from conclusive, Dr. Lau notes. As an observational, cross-sectional analysis, it can’t prove self-employment leads to better health markers because it doesn’t provide the scientific rigor of a randomized, controlled trial that directly compares the effects of an intervention among randomly assigned study participants. “Self-employment can be an indicator of a lot of things,” she explains. “Women who are self-employed are generally older, have higher levels of education, and are more likely to be financially literate. All of those factors are independently associated with better cardiovascular outcomes.”
What did this study on cardiovascular health and work consider?
Cardiovascular disease contributes to heart attacks, strokes, and other serious health problems. It affects nearly half of the women in the US. The study analyzed survey data collected between 2016 and 2018 from an ethnically diverse set of 4,624 women who reported being either salaried employees, self-employed, or working for wages. All were over age 50 and about 16% of participants were self-employed, while the rest worked for someone else.
By Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor,
Harvard Women’s Health Watch
