Lorry drivers' work stress evaluated by catecholamines excreted in urine.

Abstract

Objectives-To evaluate lorry drivers' work stress by measurement of adrenaline and noradrenaline excreted in the urine, and to find out which factors in their working situation are related to the excretion rates of these catecholamines. Methods-The urinary excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline of 32 lorry drivers, who also had loading and unloading activities to perform, was studied for one working day and one rest day. Each driver was asked to provide six urine samples on both days. Results-For all samples, except the first (overnight) sample, the excretion rates of both catecholamines on the working day were higher than those on the rest day. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were carried out to find out which factors in the drivers' working situation were related to the excretion rate of the working day. The excretion rate of adrenaline on the rest day, age, and psychosomatic complaints were positively related to the excretion rate on the working day (all P < 0.05). Body mass index and physical workload during loading and unloading were positively related to noradrenaline excretion rate (both P < 0.01). Psychosocial job strain did not significantly contribute to the proportion of variance explained in the excretion rates of both catecholamines. Conclusions-The excretion rates of adrenaline and, especially, noradrenaline on the working day were higher than those found in earlier studies among professional drivers and insufficient recovery took place after the work was ended. The only association between excretion rate on the working day and work stressors was found for noradrenaline and physical workload. The drivers' sympathoadrenal medullary reactivity to everyday work demands shows the characteristics of sustained activation. (Occup Environ Med 1995;52:464-469) Keywords: work stress; lorry drivers; catecholamines Epidemiological studies have shown that working as a professional driver is associated with a high prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints,1-3 but cardiovascular disease is also common.4 Work demands associated with driving and its required alertness can be identified,5 but as well as these, psychophysiological arousal is affected as a result of physically demanding activities while loading and unloading.The general function of the psychophysiological activation response (and its concomitant increase in secretion of catecholamines) is the improvement of coping successfully with a stressful situation. This is in principle an adaptive response. Pathological consequences may arise, however, in association with a prolonged increase in the concentrations of catecholamines. This so called sustained activation is found to be related to, for instance, cardiovascular disease.6 Catecholamine excretion rates, as assessed from urinary output of free adrenaline and noradrenaline, provide a reliable measure of the circulating concentrations of these hormones in the bloodstream and thus a measure of sympathoadrenal medullary activity.8 The excretion rate of adrenaline is closely related to...

Heart Rate Variability and Urinary Catecholamines from Job Stress in Korean Male Manufacturing Workers According to Work Seniority

“…Correlation coefficients between job stress index and heart rate variability, urinary catecholamine and duration of employment Table 4. Mean (± standard deviation) of log transfer low-frequency power of heart rate variability (LF power), HFnu, LFnu, LF/HF, age, smoking status and alcohol consumption for job stress group stratified by duration of employment norepinephrine, during the workday were higher than those found in earlier studies of professional drivers, and the recovery period after the completion of daily work was relatively insufficient 11) . A recent biomarker study of 106 Japanese hospital workers with greater psychological job stress reported lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels and higher plasma 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol levels than in workers suffering from less job stress 23) .…”

“…Occupationally-induced reactivity in the levels of urinary catecholamines have been documented in bus drivers 12) and truck drivers 11) . In the latter study, excretion rates of epinephrine, and especially Table 3.…”

“…These studies found that the level of catecholamine excretion was higher during the workday than at baseline. However, van der Beek et al (1995) found that the only association between the rate of urinary catecholamine excretion during the workday and work stressors was found for norepinephrine and physical workload 11) .…”

“…A previous study demonstrated the relationships between circulating catecholamines and low-frequency heart rate variability as indices of cardiac sympathetic activity in 34 healthy volunteers under conditions of psychological stress 10) . Previous studies of truck drivers 11) and bus drivers 12) evaluated the effects of job-related stress by analyzing the excretion of urinary catecholamines (i.e. epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine) during the workday.…”

A forward-facilitating influence of cortisol on catecholamines assessed during the work of garbage collectors

“…As in other field studies (4, [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], the measurement of catecholamines took place via urine for an overall view of the reactivity over large time periods. Cortisol has been measured more often in saliva (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28).…”