Hair cortisol concentrations in medical nurses during the COVID-19

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious and long-term stressor for healthcare workers, therefore hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) could be used to assess this prolonged stress. METHOD: HCCs of 67 female nurses were measured during spring 2020, with a follow-up performed in autumn 2020 with 57 participants. Both times, HCCs were analyzed from two 3 cm hair segments corresponding to periods of hair growth before and during the spring wave of the pandemic, during the summer release, and the autumn wave of the pandemic. RESULTS: Data from spring 2020, showed higher HCCs in hair grown during the pandemic compared to older hair (90%CI η(2)=0.123-0.397), while nurses reporting a high risk of infection (n=33) had higher HCCs (90%CI η(2)=0.002-0.176) than nurses reporting low risk (n=34). In the follow-up, hair samples corresponding to worsening of the pandemic had higher HCCs than samples from summer release (90%CI η(2)=0.002-0.201). Three groups were compared instead of two, as only 9 nurses reported low risk, 25 high risk, and 23 daily work with COVID-19 patients. Group differences were not significant. CONCLUSION: Data from the follow-up supported the findings of higher HCCs in nurses during the worsening of the pandemic.