Stress assessment in acute care department nurses by measuring interleukin-8.

BACKGROUND: Cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-8, have been shown to be related to depressive symptoms or inflammatory diseases and may be useful as stress biomarkers. AIM: This study was to assess whether urinary IL-8 levels were reliable indicators of stress among acute care department (AD) nurses. METHODS: A total of 118 nurses participated in the study. Urinary IL-8 levels of 49 AD nurses were compared with levels of a control group of 69 chronic care department (CD) nurses. RESULTS: The urinary IL-8 levels of AD nurses, who reported a higher level of professional stress, were higher than the levels of CD nurses (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Measurement of urinary IL-8 may be an appropriate biomarker for stress assessment in nurses.