Hair cortisol and chronic stress in iranian women healthcare workers

Mojgan Firouzbakht,1 Roghie pourbagher,2 Aram tirgar,3,* Mousa mohammadian-afrozi,4

1. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Babol Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch/ Iran.
2. Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran
3. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
4. Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran

Abstract


Introduction

Healthcare professions are among the first six most stressful ones. being exposed to stress for too long, may lower a person’s efficiency and could trigger negative consequences on one’s health or family and social life. workplace stress can influence healthcare professionals’ physical and emotional well-being by curbing their efficiency and having a negative impact on their overall quality of life. however, according to a systematic review, the evidence on associations between work stress and diurnal cortisol levels is mixed. cortisol assessments in saliva, serum or urine, which are affected by the temporal and situational variability of cortisol secretion and issues of non -compliance. in contrast, cortisol assessments based on hair are considered to be less affected by these methodological limitations. another advantage of hair cortisol concentrations (hcc) is that they reflect patterns of long-term cortisol secretion thereby capturing exposure to the stress hormone cortisol cumulatively over long time periods. the aim of this study was evaluated the relationship between hcc and perceived stress in women healthcare workers.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 190 women healthcare workers in babol iran in 2017. socio-demographic, perceived stress scale (pss), were collected by questionnaires. participants provided one or two hair strands with a diameter of 2—3 mm each. hair strands were taken as close to the scalp as possible from a posterior vertex position and extraction hair cortisol based on recommended protocol (washing in isopropanol, grinding, methanol incubation and a portion of the methanol evaporated until dry and then reconstituted and analyzed in the elisa). all statistical analysis was performed using the spss statistical software version 21 with a significance level of less than 0.05, and all tests were performed for two sides.

Results

The results of the study showed that 71% of participants had a high perceived stress level. the hair cortisol concentration was 21.74(19.11) pg/mg. there was a significant relationship between the stress score and hcc (p= 0.042).

Conclusion

The results of this study showed that, there was a significant relationship between perceived stress and hcc. although, cross sectional study to determine causality is week and the relationship between self-reported stress and stress biomarkers remains unclear. larger, prospective cohort studies with follow-up of disease end-points would help to determine the relative predictive power of hcc and perceived stress, and the role of hcc as a physiological predictor of stress-related physical and mental health conditions in the general population.

Keywords

Stress, cortisol, hair, women workers, iran