Biomedical subjects

Pia Schnorpfeil

Publications and source records attributed to Pia Schnorpfeil.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Allostatic load and work conditions.

Adverse work characteristics and poor social support have been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and other adverse health outcomes in otherwise apparently healthy adults. We undertook a cross-sectional study to evaluate the relationship between objective health status and work characteristics in industrial workers in Germany. Volunteers (n=324) were recruited from a representative random sample (n=537) of employees of an airplane manufacturing plant. Psychosocial work characteristics were assessed by the 52-item, 13-subscale salutogenetic subjective work analysis (SALSA) questionnaire, which assesses potentially salutogenic and pathogenic conditions. Factor analysis revealed three factors: decision latitude, job demands and social support. Biological health status was determined by the revised allostatic load score with 14 components: body-mass index, waist-to-hip ratio; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor-necrosis factor-alpha, HDL, cholesterol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate; glycosylated hemoglobin; urinary cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and albumin. Score points were given for values in the high-risk quartile (maximum=14). General linear models revealed that older individuals and men had significantly higher allostatic load scores than younger participants or women. Of the SALSA factors, only job demands related significantly to allostatic load. The effect of demands was stronger in older individuals. Post-hoc analysis showed possible positive associations between high job demands and blood pressure or CRP, and between low social support and nocturnal excretion of cortisol or plasma levels of CRP. We conclude that this cross-sectional study on industrial employees found a weak association between a health summary score based on objective medical data and self-reported adverse work characteristics.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Assessment of exhaustion and related risk factors in employees in the manufacturing industry--a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: Vital exhaustion, a construct overlapping with burnout, is an independent risk factor for adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease. We aimed to assess vital exhaustion in employees in the manufacturing industry and identify work characteristics associated with exhaustion. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. A stratified, representative random sample of employees from a manufacturing plant for airplane parts and assemblies was invited ( n=647), of whom 537 employees (83% accrual) volunteered to participate. Scores obtained by the nine-item Shortened Maastricht Exhaustion Questionnaire were compared with the mental and physical summary scales of the SF-12 General Health Survey and to a list of 20 health complaints. Pathogenic and salutogenic work characteristics were assessed by the self-reported 52-item, 13-subscale SALSA questionnaire. RESULTS: Vital exhaustion correlated with the mental summary score of the SF-12 and the number of health complaints and was positively associated with age. Exhaustion was not associated with gender, position (socio-economic status) or being on a wage (paid per completed item up to a contracted amount) or salary (payment as fixed monthly income). The instrument identified departments with high levels of exhaustion. Of the observed variance in exhaustion, 29% was explained by age, department, and five work characteristics: High levels of exhaustion (score >10) were related to excessive workload or qualitative demands (scoring in the highest quartile; OR(adj) 7.5; 95% CI 2.4-23), to adverse physical work conditions (OR(adj) 6.9; 95% CI 2.2-21), to adverse co-worker behavior (OR(adj) 4.8; 95% CI 1.4-16), to qualification potential (OR(adj) 0.32; 95% CI 0.11-0.97), and to social support by co-workers (OR(adj) 0.34; 95% CI 0.13-0.99), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The nine-item instrument allows rapid screening of employees for self-reported levels of exhaustion. Besides physical work conditions and workload, absence or presence of social support by co-workers is strongly associated with exhaustion.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reduced glucocorticoid sensitivity of monocyte interleukin-6 production in male industrial employees who are vitally exhausted.

OBJECTIVE: Proinflammatory changes are thought to link vital exhaustion with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Monocytes play a central role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic lesions and are a major source of circulating cytokines. We hypothesized that vital exhaustion may alter the regulation of monocyte activity, as measured by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated and glucocorticoid inhibited release of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6). METHODS: In 166 middle-aged apparently healthy men, vital exhaustion was measured by the Shortened Maastricht Exhaustion Questionnaire. Subjects in the highest quartile (highly exhausted, N= 38) were compared with those in the second and third quartiles (moderately exhausted N= 89) vs. those in the lowest quartile (nonexhausted, N= 39) in terms of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels, and as to IL-6 release after LPS stimulation in vitro. Inhibition of IL-6 release was determined by coincubation with increasing concentrations of dexamethasone. Monocyte glucocorticoid sensitivity was defined as the dexamethasone concentration inhibiting IL-6 release by 50%. RESULTS: Highly exhausted individuals had higher CRP levels than nonexhausted subjects (p=.008). LPS-stimulated IL-6 release was not significantly different between groups. However, in highly exhausted participants, dexamethasone was less able to inhibit IL-6 release (p=.010), and the glucocorticoid sensitivity was lower (p=.003) than in nonexhausted subjects. CONCLUSIONS: In highly exhausted individuals, glucocorticoids exert less suppressive action on monocyte IL-6 release than in nonexhausted subjects. This finding points to altered regulation of monocyte cytokine production as one possible pathway linking exhaustion with atherosclerosis.

Adult↗