Effects of occupational stress on the level of salivary cortisol in electronic manufacturing workers / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of occupational stress on the level of salivary cortisol in electronic manufacturing workers. METHODS: Two hundreds and forty workers were selected as study subjects by cluster sampling method. The Job Content Questionnaire and the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire were used to investigate the level of occupational stress in the job demand control( JDC) model and effort reward Imbalance( ERI) model. The saliva samples of workers were taken to determine the cortisol levels. RESULTS: Among the 240 workers,172( 71. 7%) showed occupational stress based on JDC model and 59( 24. 6%) showed occupational stress based on ERI model. The level of salivary cortisol of the workers in the high occupational stress group of JDC and ERI model were higher than those of the low occupational stress group( P < 0. 01). The level of salivary cortisol was positively correlated with the score of job demands,external costs and internal inputs( P < 0. 01),and it was negatively correlated with score of return dimension( P < 0. 01). In the occupational stress of JDC model,job requirements and autonomy entered the regression equation( P < 0. 05),that explained the 14. 0% of the total variation of the equation. In the occupational stress of ERI model,job pay and return dimension entered the regression equation( P < 0. 05),that explained the 13. 0% of the total variation of the equation. CONCLUSION: There is a correlation between occupational stress and level of salivary cortisol in the electronic manufacturing workers. Salivary cortisol can be used as an indicator of occupational stress.