[Continuous monitoring of pulse and blood pressure among telephone operators]

The purpose of the study was to evaluate a) whether the monitoring device was usable during ordinary working conditions, b) whether job-strain and self-reported stress influenced the blood pressure and pulse and c) whether there was a correlation between job-strain and self-reported stress. Twenty-six female telephone-operators were monitored during a working day. Job-strain was defined as the number of calls to the telephone operator. Eighty-nine percent of the monitoring measurements were usable. No difference was found between the blood pressure and pulse during rest and during work. A significant negative correlation was found between the number of calls and the blood pressure, and a significant positive correlation between the number of calls and self-reported stress. The device can give information about variations in blood-pressure and pulse during physically quiet work. The results show surprisingly that the quantitative workload is in itself not necessarily a stress factor at work. Perhaps waiting time and unpredictability are of greater importance.