Occupational Stress and its Impact on Perceived Stress, Serum Cortisol and Insulin Resistance: A Comparative Study Across Professions

Introduction: Occupational stress affects both physical and mental well-being. It is closely linked to different health issues, including insulin resistance. Because stress levels differ by profession, studying their effects on the body is important. Very few studies have compared stress and its biological effects among various professions. Aim: To determine job-related stress using biochemical markers, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) questionnaire and Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMAIR) across different occupations. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry at BLDE (DU) Sri B.M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapur, Karnataka, India, for one year, from January to December 2014. A total of 315 randomly selected male participants were enrolled, representing three different occupational groups, including police constables, bank employees, and a control group. The study collected data regarding biochemical parameters such as fasting glucose, serum cortisol, insulin, Glycated Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), PSS-14, questionnaire and HOMA-IR. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare anthropometric and biochemical parameters across three groups, followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test to identify significant intergroup differences. Means and standard deviations were computed for each parameter in both control and study groups. Results: In the study group, police constables were the youngest, with an average age of 42.17±1.00, the highest Body Mass Index (BMI) (25.94±0.21) and waist/hip ratio (1.01±0.01). Bank employees had the highest waist (91.71±0.99 cm) and hip circumference (97.77±0.79 cm). PSS significantly increased in study subjects compared to control subjects. HOMA-IR analysis revealed high discrimination for bank employees (AUC=0.92). A significant correlation between HOMA-IR and fasting blood glucose was observed across the studied groups, with the strongest correlation found among bank employees (r=0.574, p=0.001), followed by police constables (r=0.275, p=0.004). Conclusion: The present study found that the effect of occupational stress on health varies with different occupations. The observations emphasise the need for regular health screenings and lifestyle modifications to prevent long-term complications like diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).