The Relationship Between Job Stress and Urinary Cytokines in Healthy Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Cytokines such as angiogenin (ANG) and interleukin (IL-8) have been shown to be related to depressive symptoms and inflammatory diseases like coronary heart disease. They may thus be used as stress biomarkers to identify and prevent health problems. To investigate the relationship between cytokines and nurses' job-related stress, levels of urinary ANG and IL-8 were measured in healthy female hospital nurses in Japan. The level of job-related stress of the subjects was evaluated using the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS), with the participants being classified into high- or low-stress groups for each subscale according to their scores. The participants' subjective psychological states were assessed using the Profile of Mood States--Short Form Japanese version (POMS-SFJ). Urinary ANG, IL-8, and cortisol levels and subjective psychological states for two groups were compared for each NSS subscale. The fatigue and depression scores of POMS-SFJ subscales in the present study were higher than those of the general healthy Japanese population. Based on the mean score of the combined participants, nurses were experiencing the highest stress related to the pressure of having responsibility for patients' life support care (PPLC). Nurses reporting high levels of stress related to PPLC and conflict with physicians had high levels of urinary ANG. Urinary ANG levels may thus be associated with high levels of job stress.