Psychoneuroendocrinology
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Oct 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialCortisol, reaction time test and health among offshore shift workers.
The stress hormone cortisol shows a pronounced endogenous diurnal rhythm, which is affected by the sleep/wake cycle, meals and activity. Shift work and especially night work disrupts the sleep/wake cycle and causes a desynchronization of the natural biological rhythms. Therefore, different shift schedules may have different impact on performance at work and health. ⋯ We found no increase in health complaints from swing shift or reaction time in the shift from night to day work. Recovery from night shift takes longer time.
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Oct 2010
Controlled Clinical TrialThe other side of the curve: examining the relationship between pre-stressor physiological responses and stress reactivity.
There is widespread consensus that stress induces dramatic physiological changes, but no agreement on the quantitative parameters that are appropriate to measure these responses. More importantly, the interpretation of various stress measurements, and how individual responses should be evaluated, has not been properly addressed. Even the definition of baseline, against which stress responses must be measured, is not clearly established. ⋯ Thus, the magnitude of the difference in cortisol and alpha-amylase between arrival and 1h after arrival was a predictor of subsequent stress reactivity. These findings suggest that different psychosocial profiles may be reflected in cortisol and alpha-amylase changes. For this reason: (1) a recovery period after arrival is essential to establish a baseline, (2) the difference between arrival and post-recovery period baseline should be included in experimental designs as a predictive variable, and (3) transformation of individual measures into proportional changes relative to the arrival sample is very likely to obscure important underlying individual differences.