High-pressure jobs such as nursing can increase women's risk of heart disease and younger women appear to be more vulnerable, according to scientists.

Previous research has largely focused on men, but in this study researchers from Denmark assessed the impact of work pressure and the degree of personal influence in the workplace on the heart health of more than 12000 nurses.

The nurses, all between 45 and 64, were questioned in 1993 about daily work pressures and how much they felt they had control over their work. Their health was then tracked for 15 years using hospital records.

The results, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, shows that nurses who said their work pressures were a little too high were 25% more likely to develop heart disease than those who said work pressures were manageable and appropriate. Those who felt work stress was much too high were 35% more likely to have heart disease after other risk factors such as smoking and lifestyle were taken into account.

When the findings were analysed by age, they showed that nurses younger than 51 were at significant risk of heart disease.

A separate analysis of this age group shows those who felt they were under moderate work pressure were 60% more likely to have heart disease, while those who said they faced excessive pressures were almost twice as likely to have it.