[Occupational stress among care workers: evaluation by a novel physiological method].

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Physiology
• Geriatric Care

Background:

• Care workers face significant occupational stress.
• Assessing stress requires reliable physiological and self-reported measures.
• Understanding job-specific stressors is crucial for support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel physiological method for evaluating occupational stress in care workers.
• To assess individual stress responses and their correlation with specific job tasks.
• To investigate the impact of shift schedules on stress levels.

Main Methods:

• Employed frequency analysis of electrocardiograms (ECG) and Holter monitoring to assess sympathetic function.
• Measured salivary chromogranin A (CgA) protein levels as a biomarker for stress.
• Utilized daily diaries for care workers to record job tasks and correlate them with physiological stress data.

Main Results:

• Shift-changing care workers exhibited significantly higher stress index and CgA levels compared to regular-shift workers.
• Inter-professional tasks and oral care were associated with higher stress indices and peaks during day shifts.
• Night-shift workers performing oral and clothing care, and sheet-changing, showed elevated stress levels, with sheet-changing stress differing between day and night shifts.

Conclusions:

• A novel method combining ECG analysis and salivary CgA measurement effectively assesses occupational stress in care workers.
• Shift schedule changes appear to exacerbate stress responses in this population.
• Specific tasks including inter-professional duties, oral care, and direct patient contact (e.g., bathing, sheet-changing) are identified as key occupational stressors.