Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the stress score measured using the Inventory to Measure Psychosocial Stress (IMPS) and biomedical parameters regarding health status among apparently healthy subjects in order to evaluate the validity of the IMPS. Out of the 1,941 public school workers in Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, who were admitted to a hospital for medical check-ups, 1,499 workers responded to questionnaires which assessed the degree of stress response (i.e., stress score) measured using the IMPS, and the degree of stress tolerance capacity (i.e., stress intolerance score) measured using the Inventory to Measure Stress Tolerance Capacity (IMST). One thousand two-hundred and one workers (684 men and 517 women) were analyzed, excluding 298 subjects who were taking medication for hypertension, hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia and diabetes, or had a value for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥6.0 percent.
An increase in the stress score was positively associated with an increase in both body fat percentage and glycosylated hemoglobin values among men, while it was positively associated with an increase in plasma triglyceride concentrations among women. The stress score significantly correlated with the value for glycosylated hemoglobin even after controlling for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise among men. An increase in the stress intolerance score was positively associated with an increase in body fat percentage among men, while it was positively associated with an increase in body weight, body mass index, and body fat percentage among women. Our result that the stress score measured using the IMPS was associated with obesity and unfavorable glycemic changes is in congruency with the model that psychosocial stress has a detrimental effect on humans by inducing obesity and insulin resistance, suggesting that the IMPS is a valid means to evaluate psychosocial stress levels among an otherwise healthy population.
