| 1. |
- Carlsson, Frida, et al.
(författare)
-
Prevalence of annoyance attributed to electrical equipment and smells in a Swedish population, and relationship with subjective health and daily functioning
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Public Health. - : Elsevier BV. - 1476-5616 .- 0033-3506. ; 119:7, s. 568-577
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Self-reported annoyance from electrical equipment has been in evidence since the mid-1980s, and the first reports of illness from everyday chemicals arose in the 1960s. However, the extent of the problem has not yet been fully established.AIMS: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of annoyance related to electrical and chemical factors in a Swedish general population, and to assess possible relationships with subjective health and daily functioning.METHODS: In total, 13,604 subjects, representative of the population of Scania, Sweden, answered a survey containing five questions regarding annoyance from five environmental factors: fluorescent tube lighting, visual display units, other electrical equipment, air that smells of chemicals, and other smells. The survey also obtained data on self-reported health (SRH-7), mental well-being [General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12], work situation and daily functioning.RESULTS: Almost one-third of the respondents reported annoyance from at least one environmental factor. Annoyance was more frequent among women, subjects of working age and immigrants. Subjects who reported environmental annoyance scored higher on GHQ-12 and lower on SRH-7, indicating impaired subjective physical and mental well-being. They were also more likely to report deteriorated daily functioning.CONCLUSIONS: Annoyance related to electrical and/or chemical factors was common in a Swedish population. Subjects reporting environmental annoyance rated their overall health significantly poorer than the general population. The association with subjective health and functional capacity increased with severity of annoyance, which suggests that there is some connection between environmental annoyance, well-being and functional capacity.
|
|
| 2. |
- Carlsson, Frida, et al.
(författare)
-
Salivary cortisol and self-reported stress among persons with environmental annoyance
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140. ; 32:2, s. 20-109
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Increased vulnerability to stress has been suggested as a possible mechanism behind medically unexplained conditions such as sensitivity to electricity and common smells. This study examined whether subjective environmental annoyance among the general population is associated with increased physiological reactivity or subjective stress scores.METHODS: Four groups were studied (N=141): an electrically annoyed (N=17), a smell-annoyed (N=29), and a generally annoyed group (N=39) and a reference group matched for age, gender, and socioeconomic status (N=56). Over 5 days, the participants collected saliva for cortisol determination at awakening, 30 minutes after awakening, 8 hours after awakening, and at 9 o'clock in the evening. On the evening preceding the fifth day, the participants ingested a 0.5-mg dexamethasone tablet so that possible differential suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis could be assessed. Each day, the participants also rated their subjective stress and health complaints.RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the groups regarding cortisol secretion over 5 days. The dexamethasone suppression test showed inhibited cortisol secretion in all four groups. No associations were found between the cortisol concentrations and the self-reported stress scores or subjective health complaints.CONCLUSIONS: Although the environmentally annoyed groups showed no signs of increased HPA-axis activation, being annoyed by both electrical devices and smells seems to be related to increased psychological activation in terms of self-reported stress. Because the participants were otherwise healthy and recruited from the general population, the results imply that subtle psychological stress processes may be important in the early development of environmental annoyance.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Garde, A. H., et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of lifestyle factors on concentrations of salivary cortisol in healthy individuals
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-7686 .- 0036-5513. ; 69:2, s. 242-250
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective . Salivary cortisol is widely used in occupational health research. However, many ordinary daily activities can influence the concentrations of cortisol and the interpretation of field studies. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of lifestyle factors on salivary cortisol in everyday settings. Material and methods . Healthy employees participated in one or more sub-studies on the effect of eating a vegetable salad versus protein-rich mid-day meal (n=40), drinking coffee and smoking (n=12), drinking alcohol (n=32), awakening at different times (n=29) and exercising (n=21). Cortisol in saliva was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Results . When eating a mid-day meal, salivary cortisol was increased by 10 % (CI -1 % to 24 %) 1 h after eating compared to before eating in the case of both types of meal. Salivary cortisol increased by 80 % (CI 9 % to 199 %) after exercising compared to before exercise. The relative awakening response was approximately 100 % when using an alarm clock on both work-days and days off. However, the awakening response was 39 % (CI 10 % to 75 %) on a day off with spontaneous awakening. No effects of alcohol, coffee or smoking were observed. Discussion . In field studies, the biological variation in salivary cortisol may be reduced by restricting physical exercise and in collecting pre-meal samples. However, the protein content of food and moderate consumption of alcohol had no effect on concentrations of cortisol. Differences in relative awakening responses on work-days and days off are related to time and mode of awakening.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
