A Review of the Effect of the Psychosocial Working Environment on Physiological Changes in Blood and Urine

Abstract

The aim of the present survey was to provide a literary review of current knowledge of the possible association between the psychosocial working environment and relevant physiological parameters measured in blood and urine. Literature databases (PubMed, Toxline, Biosis and Embase) were screened using the key words job, work-related and stress in combination with selected physiological parameters. In total, 51 work place studies investigated the associations between the psychosocial working environment and physiological changes, of which 20 were longitudinal studies and 12 population-based studies. The studied exposures in work place/population-based studies included: job demands (26/8 studies), job control (24/10 studies), social support and/or leadership behaviour (12/3 studies), effort-reward imbalance (three/one studies), occupational changes (four studies), shift work (eight studies), traumatic events (one study) and other (five studies). The physiological responses were catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline) (14 studies), cortisol (28 studies), cholesterol (23 studies), glycated haemoglobinA(1c) (six studies), testosterone (nine studies), oestrogens (three studies), dehydroepiandrosterone (six studies), prolactin (14 studies), melatonin (one study), thyroxin (one study), immunoglobulin (Ig) A (five studies), IgG (four studies), IgM (one study) and fibrinogen (eight studies). In general, fibrinogen and catabolic indicators, defined as energy releasing, were increased, whereas the anabolic indicators defined as constructive building up energy resources were decreased when the psychosocial working environment was perceived as poor. In conclusion, in this review the association between an adverse psychosocial working environment and HbA(1c), testosterone and fibrinogen in serum was found to be a robust and potential candidate for a physiological effect of the psychosocial working environment. Further, urinary catecholamines appear to reflect the effects of shift work and monotonous work.

The effect of work-time influence on health and well-being: a quasi-experimental intervention study among eldercare workers

“…Additionally, we obtained serum concentrations of glycated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ) and testosterone as markers of catabolic and anabolic processes, respectively (Hansen et al 2009). As testosterone exhibits diurnal variation, which may be aVected by night work, we excluded participants (baseline, n = 5; follow-up, n = 2), who indicated that they worked night shifts from the analyses of testosterone.…”

Development and evaluation of a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of salivary melatonin, cortisol and testosterone

“…There is a slight diurnal variation in both sexes and testosterone is highest in the morning after a good nights sleep [9]. Testosterone has been shown to be a good biomarker for adverse psychosocial working environment for both men and women [21].…”

Association between effort–reward imbalance and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among Chinese workers: results from SHISO study

“…It has been used as a measure of glycemic control among diabetic patients, as well as a possible screening test for undetected DM (Lippi and Targher 2010). Several studies have reported that stressful working conditions were associated with increased concentrations of HbA1c in non-diabetic populations (Cesana et al 1985;Kawakami et al 1989Kawakami et al , 2000Feldman and Steptoe 2003;Grossi et al 2003;Hansen et al 2009). However, all the studies were conducted in developed countries, in which job stress was evaluated by job demand-control-support model.…”