[Influence of occupational stress on salivary immunoglobulin G concentration in employees]

To investigate the possibility of salivary immunoglobulin G(IgG) as an objective assessment index for occupational stress.

In September 2014, a total of 186 employees in a solar photovoltaic company were selected as research subjects, and a questionnaire survey was performed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure salivary IgG concentration.

The salivary IgG concentration showed a significant difference between employees with different working years and shifts(P<0.05). The employees with ≤15 working years had a lower salivary IgG concentration than those with >20 working years (49.93±7.97 μg/ml vs 53.80±8.22 μg/ml), and the employees with long-day shifts had a higher salivary IgG concentration than those with day-night shifts(54.98±7.62 μg/ml vs 51.85±7.94 μg/ml). The employees with low levels of job demands and job danger had a significantly higher salivary IgG concentration than those with high levels(54.09±6.68 μg/ml vs 50.65±8.81 μg/ml, P<0.05; 53.73±7.35 μg/ml vs 50.73±8.73 μg/ml, P<0.05). The employees with a high score of mental health had a significantly higher salivary IgG concentration than those with a low score(54.39±5.28 μg/ml vs 50.73±9.36 μg/ml, P<0.05). The salivary IgG concentration was positively correlated with the score of mental health(r=0.314, P<0.05), but negatively correlated with job demands, job routinization, job danger, job prospects, physical complaints, and daily stress(r=-0.249, -0.159, -0.157, -0.030, -0.035, and -0.176, all P<0.05). The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the salivary IgG concentration was mainly influenced by job demands and mental health.

Salivary IgG concentration can be applied as an objective assessment index for occupational stress.