Physiological effects of shift work on hospital nurses.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the physiological effects of shift work on the urinary excretion rates of norepinephrine, 6-sulfatoxymelatonin and estriol in hospital nurses.


METHODS
Twenty-four hour urine specimens were examined on a daytime/nighttime basis for each work shift of pregnant and non-pregnant subjects. The urinary norepinephrine and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and estriol by radio-immunoassay.


RESULTS
Urinary norepinephrine level during the night work was higher than the night levels of the days off and the day shift. Urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin level during the night work was lower than the night levels of the days off and the day shift. Urinary estriol level of pregnant subjects showed no differences among work shift and also between daytime and nighttime.


CONCLUSIONS
Urinary excretion rates of norepinephrine and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin were affected by shift work both for non-pregnant and pregnant subjects. It was unlikely that urinary estriol levels in the pregnant subjects were significantly affected by shift work.
Yamauchi
H
H
Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube, Japan.
Iwamoto
M
M
Harada
N
N
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D004964:Estriol / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008550:Melatonin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000652:urine*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*
C054513:6-sulfatoxymelatonin; D004964:Estriol; D008550:Melatonin; D009638:Norepinephrine