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- Carlsson, Frida, et al.
(författare)
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Salivary cortisol and self-reported stress among persons with environmental annoyance
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140. ; 32:2, s. 20-109
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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.
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| 3. |
- Hansen, Ase Marie, et al.
(författare)
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Diurnal profiles of salivary cortisol on workdays among construction workers versus white-collar workers
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140. ; , s. 22-26
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives The aim of the present study was to test whether construction workers, who are known to have a relatively higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), had higher concentrations of cortisol in saliva and a lower relative variability when compared with white-collar workers. Methods Data from two groups of male construction workers with physically demanding job assignments, with either regular or extended workhours (N=40) and a group of white-collar workers recruited from both the private and the public sector (N=118) were examined. All of the workers had participated in previous research projects with similar methodology. Saliva was sampled during ordinary workdays at awakening, between 30 and 45 minutes after awakening, and approximately 14 hours after awakening. Results Compared with the white-collar workers, the construction workers had higher mean concentrations of cortisol in saliva, 36% and 14% for construction workers with regular and extended workhours, respectively. The observed differences weakened when the exact sampling time (time of day) was taken into consideration in the statistical modeling. Compared with the white-collar workers, the construction workers had a lower relative variability in salivary cortisol as measured by the coefficient of variation (CV 76% versus 99%). A detailed analysis revealed that the construction workers with regular workhours had the highest concentration of cortisol in saliva but the lowest relative variability when compared with the construction workers with extended workhours (CV 72% versus 82%). Conclusions The results suggest that physically demanding construction work is associated with a less variable and increased cortisol excretion when compared with white-collar work.
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