Study on Health/Lifestyle, Oxidative Stress, and Antioxidant Capacity Among Female Care Workers and Female General Workers

Abstract

Background: Care workers have been considered to have higher work-related stress than general workers, which can have a considerable effect on their lifestyle. Hence, psychological and physiological stress levels should be examined. While several studies have investigated psychological stress among care workers, none have examined physiological stress. In addition, very few studies have been investigated the relationship between lifestyle and physiological stress.

Aims: This study aimed to examine the relationship between health/lifestyle and physiological stress among female care workers and general workers and identify differences therein.

Methods: Subjects included 30 workers (average age: 49.8) and 33 general workers (average age: 51.9). No significant difference in their age was noted. The “Diagnostic Inventory of Health and Life Habit” developed by Tokunaga et al. was used to examine lifestyle habits. Physiological stress was examined by measuring diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) using FRAS4 manufactured by WISMERLL Co., Ltd. during the subjects’ working hours.

Results: Care workers were taller, heavier, woke up later, and slept longer than general workers. Both care workers and general workers had average health/lifestyle parameter scores that fell within the “moderate” category, with no differences between both groups. Both care workers and general workers had a poor health rating and were evaluated as “caution required,” which indicated undesirable lifestyle habits. No significant differences in d-ROMs and BAP were observed between both groups, many of whom fell under the “high oxidative stress” category for d-ROMs and “borderline” for BAP. Regarding the relationship between d-ROMs and BAP values and health/lifestyle parameters, our results found some relationship between exercise habits and d-ROMs only among care workers.

Conclusion: General workers and care workers included herein had similarly poor health levels and undesirable lifestyle habits. Moreover, both groups were both had high d-ROM and normal BAP levels, with no significant differences in both indexes. Several care workers confirmed to have high d-ROMs tended to not participate in sport activities or exercise and did not to expect to benefit from them.