Assessment of work-related stress by using salivary cortisol level examination among early morning shift workers

Aug 14, 2018Central European journal of public health

Using saliva cortisol to measure work stress in early morning shift workers

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Abstract

Salivary cortisol levels were significantly higher during the workday compared to days off in early shift workers from the car industry.

Cortisol showed a typical daily pattern, peaking in the morning and decreasing throughout the day.
Higher evening cortisol concentrations and a diminished decline in cortisol levels were observed during workdays.
Irregular shift work may lead to increased cortisol production shortly after waking and a slower recovery during the workday.
Older women exhibited significantly higher cortisol levels than older men, while no differences were found in younger individuals.
Salivary cortisol can serve as an effective objective marker for assessing occupational stress.

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OBJECTIVE: Early morning shifts have a negative effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The aim of this study was to comprehensively assess the extent of occupational stress in early shift workers of the car industry by using salivary cortisol as an objective marker during a workday and on a day off.

METHODS: For this cross-sectional epidemiological type of study, a survey included 55 suitable volunteers from the car industry. Five saliva samples were collected according to the following schedule: during one work day in the morning, during the morning shift from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m., then after the shift was completed, 3 hours after work and in the evening before going to sleep. Control samples were taken from the same participants on a day off. Radioimmunoanalysis was used as the main analytical method, and the effect of factors and between-factor interactions on the levels of salivary cortisol during the workday were assessed using an ANOVA model.

RESULTS: The cortisol diurnal rhythm was as expected, with the highest values in the morning and declining to the lowest values in the evening hours. Concentrations of salivary cortisol showed higher values during the workday, especially higher concentrations of evening cortisol and attenuated cortisol slope. Based on the results, irregular shift work has a greater increase in cortisol excretion after waking in the morning and a slower progressive recovery of the organism during the workday. In addition, cortisol levels were significantly higher in older women than in older men but did not differ in younger subjects.

CONCLUSIONS: Salivary cortisol levels are a suitable objective marker of stress and can be used as a good predictor of occupational stress by public health services for the purposes of primary prevention.

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Assessment of work-related stress by using salivary cortisol level examination among early morning shift workers

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