Perceived Stress and Hair Cortisol Concentration: A Cross Sectional Study in Women Health Workers

Abstract

Background and purpose: The deleterious effects of chronic stress on dimensions health have already been stablished. Hair cortisol concentration is a promising new tool for the assessment of long-term stress. This study was conducted for determining the relationship between perceived stress and hair cortisol in women health care workers. Materials and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in 2018, among 188 women health care workers in Babol/Iran. Data collection was done using a demographic and perceives stress questionnaire. Hair cortisol was extracted according to exiting protocol. Data analysis was done with SPSS21 software at a significance level of P<0.05. Results: 69.3% of participants had high level of stress. The mean amount of extracted HCC was 1.74 (1.63) pg/mg. There was significant difference between means the HCC of groups with low stress level 1.457(1.163) and high stress levels 1/928(1.829). (P= 0.04). Conclusion: There was significant relationship between of the HCC and perceived stress. HCC was increased in participants with high perceived stress level.

Keywords

• hair cortisol
• stress
• chronic
• women
• health care workers