Journal of Health and Environmental Research

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Stress Response in Swedish Ambulance Personnel Evaluated by Trier Social Stress Test

Received: Jan. 07, 2019    Accepted: Mar. 02, 2019    Published: Mar. 19, 2019
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Abstract

According to previous research, ambulance personnel often consider themselves as healthy, but at the same time several studies show that they suffer from several stress-related illnesses, take early retirement and even suffer early death. The aim of this study was to explore mental stress during the Trier Social Stress Test. Questions were whether heart rate measurement could replace cortisol concentration in saliva as an indicator of stress and if there were differences between genders. During 20 Trier Social Stress Tests heart rate and salivary cortisol concentrations were measured. Heart rate was measured every 15 seconds and salivary cortisol was collected at seven occasions. Fourteen men and six women (sixteen ambulance nurses and four paramedics) participated. A questionnaire with background data was collected. Statistical analysis used was non-parametric tests to adjust for misalignment. During the Trier Social Stress Test women had their highest salivary cortisol concentration before start of test while the maximum values for men were 10 to 20 minutes after start. In contrast, there was no difference in heart rhythm before, during and after test between genders. No correlation between heart rate and salivary cortisol was found. There was no significant difference in stress response according to personnel’s age or level of education. Women and men exhibit different hormonal stress responses when it comes to performing unfamiliar actions, something that has not been seen before. Since no correlation could be seen between heart rate and salivary cortisol concentration they cannot replace each other as indicators of stress.

DOI 10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13
Published in Journal of Health and Environmental Research ( Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2019 )
Page(s) 14-23
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ambulance Personnel, Heart Rate, Salivary Cortisol, Stress, Trier Social Stress Test

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kåre Karlsson, Patrik Persson Niemelä, Anders Jonsson, Carl-Johan Törnhage. (2019). Stress Response in Swedish Ambulance Personnel Evaluated by Trier Social Stress Test. Journal of Health and Environmental Research, 5(1), 14-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13

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    ACS Style

    Kåre Karlsson; Patrik Persson Niemelä; Anders Jonsson; Carl-Johan Törnhage. Stress Response in Swedish Ambulance Personnel Evaluated by Trier Social Stress Test. J. Health Environ. Res. 2019, 5(1), 14-23. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13

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    AMA Style

    Kåre Karlsson, Patrik Persson Niemelä, Anders Jonsson, Carl-Johan Törnhage. Stress Response in Swedish Ambulance Personnel Evaluated by Trier Social Stress Test. J Health Environ Res. 2019;5(1):14-23. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13,
      author = {Kåre Karlsson and Patrik Persson Niemelä and Anders Jonsson and Carl-Johan Törnhage},
      title = {Stress Response in Swedish Ambulance Personnel Evaluated by Trier Social Stress Test},
      journal = {Journal of Health and Environmental Research},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {14-23},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jher.20190501.13},
      abstract = {According to previous research, ambulance personnel often consider themselves as healthy, but at the same time several studies show that they suffer from several stress-related illnesses, take early retirement and even suffer early death. The aim of this study was to explore mental stress during the Trier Social Stress Test. Questions were whether heart rate measurement could replace cortisol concentration in saliva as an indicator of stress and if there were differences between genders. During 20 Trier Social Stress Tests heart rate and salivary cortisol concentrations were measured. Heart rate was measured every 15 seconds and salivary cortisol was collected at seven occasions. Fourteen men and six women (sixteen ambulance nurses and four paramedics) participated. A questionnaire with background data was collected. Statistical analysis used was non-parametric tests to adjust for misalignment. During the Trier Social Stress Test women had their highest salivary cortisol concentration before start of test while the maximum values for men were 10 to 20 minutes after start. In contrast, there was no difference in heart rhythm before, during and after test between genders. No correlation between heart rate and salivary cortisol was found. There was no significant difference in stress response according to personnel’s age or level of education. Women and men exhibit different hormonal stress responses when it comes to performing unfamiliar actions, something that has not been seen before. Since no correlation could be seen between heart rate and salivary cortisol concentration they cannot replace each other as indicators of stress.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    AU  - Kåre Karlsson
    AU  - Patrik Persson Niemelä
    AU  - Anders Jonsson
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20190501.13
    AB  - According to previous research, ambulance personnel often consider themselves as healthy, but at the same time several studies show that they suffer from several stress-related illnesses, take early retirement and even suffer early death. The aim of this study was to explore mental stress during the Trier Social Stress Test. Questions were whether heart rate measurement could replace cortisol concentration in saliva as an indicator of stress and if there were differences between genders. During 20 Trier Social Stress Tests heart rate and salivary cortisol concentrations were measured. Heart rate was measured every 15 seconds and salivary cortisol was collected at seven occasions. Fourteen men and six women (sixteen ambulance nurses and four paramedics) participated. A questionnaire with background data was collected. Statistical analysis used was non-parametric tests to adjust for misalignment. During the Trier Social Stress Test women had their highest salivary cortisol concentration before start of test while the maximum values for men were 10 to 20 minutes after start. In contrast, there was no difference in heart rhythm before, during and after test between genders. No correlation between heart rate and salivary cortisol was found. There was no significant difference in stress response according to personnel’s age or level of education. Women and men exhibit different hormonal stress responses when it comes to performing unfamiliar actions, something that has not been seen before. Since no correlation could be seen between heart rate and salivary cortisol concentration they cannot replace each other as indicators of stress.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • School of Health Sciences, University of Bor?s, Bor?s, Sweden; Centre for Defence Medicine, The Swedish Armed Forces, West Frolunda, Sweden

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