| 1. |
- Jönsson, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity and habituation to a virtual reality version of the Trier Social Stress Test : a pilot study
- 2010
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 35:9, s. 1397-1403
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a widely used protocol to induce stress in laboratory settings. Briefly, in the TSST, the test participant is asked to hold a speech and to do an arithmetic task in front of an audience. In the present pilot study, we examined endocrine and autonomic reactivity and habituation to repeated stress provocations using a virtual reality (VR) version of TSST. The VR system was a CAVE™ system with three rear projected walls (4 m×3 m), and one floor projection. The system also included a head tracking system and passive stereoscopy. The virtual audience consisted of one woman, and two men. Ten healthy men, mean age 28.3 years (24-38 years), were confronted with the test twice (1 week between sessions), during which salivary cortisol, heart rate (HR), high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV, parasympathetic activity), and T-wave amplitude (TWA, suggested to be related to sympathetic influence on myocardial performance) were assessed. Cortisol secretion showed a marked increase (88% vs. baseline) during the first stress provocation, but habituated in the second session. The magnitude of HR and TWA reactivity during stress provocation was approximately the same at both sessions, implying a stable increase in sympathetic activity. Heart rate showed a maximum increase of 40% at the first session, and 32% at the second. TWA showed a maximum decrease of 42% at the first session, and 39% at the second. The results resemble those obtained in prior studies using the real-life TSST. If these results can be replicated with larger samples, VR technology may be used as a simple and standardized tool for social stress induction in experimental settings.
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| 2. |
- Karlson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term stability of return to work after a workplace-oriented intervention for patients on sick leave for burnout
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2458 .- 1471-2458. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND:The period from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s saw a rapid increase in long-term sick leave in Sweden, primarily due to mental illness and often related to job burnout. This led to an urge for effective treatment programs that could prevent the often long sick leaves. In 2010 we presented a newly developed work-place intervention method, showing that 89% of the intervention group had returned to work at a 1.5 year follow-up, compared to 73% of the control group. The main aim of this study was to assess the long-term stability of these promising results.METHODS:Sick leave registry data from the Regional Social Insurance Office were analyzed for an additional year (50 weeks) beyond the original 1.5 year period (80 weeks). Data from 68 matched pairs of intervention participants (IP) and controls were available. The proportions of participants being on full-time sick leave versus having returned to work to any extent were computed for every 10th week. Generalized estimating equations were used with GROUP (IP versus controls) as between-subjects factor, WEEKS and AGE as covariates, and return-to-work (RTW) as dependent variable. Significant differences (Wald χ2 with α ≤ .05) was followed up with polynomial contrasts. Individual relapses to higher degrees of sick leave (e.g. from 50% to 100%) and whether partial RTW led to later full-time RTW, were also analyzed.RESULTS:The omnibus test over all 130 weeks showed a GROUP*WEEKS interaction effect (p = .02), indicating differential group developments in RTW, though similarly high at week 130 in both groups with 82.4% of the IP and 77.9% of the controls having RTW (p = .22; χ2-test). A significant interaction with age led to separate analyses of the younger and older subgroups, indicating a stable pattern of superior RTW only among younger IP (week 130: 88.6% vs. 69.7%, p = .054; χ2-test). There was no group difference in relapses into increased degree of sick leave. Part-time sick leave did not predict a later stable full-time RTW.CONCLUSIONS:The previously reported improvement in RTW with the newly developed workplace-oriented intervention showed a long-term stability only among younger participants.
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| 3. |
- 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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| 4. |
- Carter, N, et al.
(författare)
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EUROQUEST - A questionnaire for solvent related symptoms: Factor structure, item analysis and predictive validity
- 2002
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Ingår i: NeuroToxicology. - 1872-9711 .- 0161-813X. ; 23:6, s. 711-717
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study evaluates the factor structure and predictive validity of the symptom questionnaire EUROQUEST (EQ) that had been developed with the goal of simplifying the evaluation of health effects associated with long-term solvent exposure. The EQ was added to the normal evaluation procedures for 118 male patients with suspected solvent-induced toxic encephalopathy (TE) referred to seven Swedish clinics of occupational medicine during an 18-month period. EQ was also completed by 239 males from a random sample of 400 Swedish males aged 25-64 years selected from the general population and a sample of 559 occupationally active male spray painters aged 25-64 years. Factor and item analyses of EQ responses were performed. Ordinary least square regression analysis was used to evaluate sensitivity and correlation to evaluate the specificity of EQ and the separate components. Questions concerning memory and concentration symptoms alone showed better sensitivity than the other five EQ dimensions singly or combined for the entire EQ and for a subset of questions approximating Q16, a widely used organic solvent symptom screening questionnaire. However, the diagnosis of TE required information in addition to exposure and responses to EQ and Q16-like questions. The results indicate that the subset of EQ questions concerning memory and concentration might replace the more cumbersome EQ and less sensitive Q16 in screening for TE, although none of the screening instruments alone replaces current clinical diagnostic procedures. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Eek, Frida, et al.
(författare)
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Factors associated with prospective development of environmental annoyance
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Psychosomatic Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1360 .- 0022-3999. ; 69:1, s. 9-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) has in cross-sectional studies been associated with emotional problems and psychiatric disorders. However, in the absence of prospective studies it has not been possible to determine whether emotional problems precede the onset of IEI, or are a consequence of IEI. The purpose of this study was to address this issue in a prospective panel study design. Methods: The study sample (n=10 275) responded to a postal survey that included five questions regarding annoyance from environmental factors, at baseline and at follow-up five years later. Associations between a number of self-rating scales of stress, subjective health, and working conditions at baseline on one hand, and development of environmental annoyance from baseline to follow-up on the other, were examined. Results: Participants having developed environmental annoyance between baseline and follow-up had at baseline reported more subjective health complaints, higher levels of stress, strain, and lack of recovery, more dissatisfaction with their work situation, and lower personal social support, compared to participants not developing environmental annoyance. Conclusion: Elevated subjective health complaints, high stress in daily life and a strained work situation, all possible signs of sustained arousal, increase the risk of developing annoyance to environmental factors. The results fit the hypothesis that reduced subjective health, over the course of time, may be attributed to environmental factors. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Garde, A. H., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of lifestyle factors on concentrations of salivary cortisol in healthy individuals
- 2009
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-7686 .- 0036-5513. ; 69:2, s. 242-250
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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.
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| 10. |
- Garde, Anne Helene, et al.
(författare)
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Month-to-month variation in sleep among healthy, Scandinavian daytime workers
- 2014
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-7686 .- 0036-5513. ; 74:6, s. 527-535
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. The overall purpose of the present study was to attain more insight in month-to-month variation of sleep duration and quality in order to improve design and interpretation of, e.g. epidemiological studies using sleep as outcome. Methods. The study design entailed monthly self-reports from 38 (26 women/12 men) daytime workers, who completed the Karolinska Sleep Diary (KSD) once a month during one year. A subgroup (n = 16) also wore actigraphs on one day every month during a year. Self-reports of bedtime, time of awakening, sleep duration, individual sleep characteristics, disturbed sleep index (DSI, 4 items) and awakening index (AWI, 3 items) were analyzed together with actigraphy-derived measures. Hours of daylight were used to test for circa-annual variation in statistical models adjusted for intake of hypnotics and alcohol, gender, age and within-person variability. Results. Hours of daylight were found to be associated to self-reported bedtime (p = 0.032) and DSI (p = 0.030), thereby indicating a circa-annual variation. Bedtime was delayed by 1.8 min (95% CI: 0.6-2.9 min) per 1 hour increase in length of daylight. Sleep was slightly more disturbed during the winter. Conclusion. Only circa-annual variation in self-reports of bedtime and DSI were observed in a healthy daytime working population, and the effects were small. Therefore potential bias due to circa-annuality in the studied parameters appears to be of limited concern in adult daytime working populations.
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