Salivary cortisol and serum prolactin in relation to stress rating scales in a group of rescue workers

Background: Rescue service personnel are often exposed to traumatic events as part of their occupation, and higher prevalence rates of psychiatric illness have been found among this group. Methods: In 65 rescue workers, salivary cortisol at 8 and 10 and serum prolactin at 8 were related to the psychiatric self-rating scale General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) measuring psychiatric health, and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) and Post Traumatic Symptom Scale (PTSS) measuring posttraumatic symptoms. Results: Seventeen percent of the study population scored above the GHQ-28 cut-off limit but none scored beyond the cut-off limit in the IES and PTSS questionnaires. Salivary cortisol concentration at 10 correlated with statistical significance to anxiety (p< .005) and depressive symptoms (p< .01) measured with GHQ-28, as well as to posttraumatic symptoms, with avoidance behavior measured with IES (p< .01) and PTSS (p< .005). Two of the rescue workers were followed over time with the same sampling procedure after a major rescue commission. Conclusions: The correlation between evening salivary cortisol and anxiety, depressiveness, and posttraumatic avoidance symptoms indicates that these parameters can be used in screening and follow-up after traumatic stress events.