Affiliations 

  • 1 University of Bristol, UK
  • 2 University of Macedonia, Greece
  • 3 Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ireland
  • 4 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • 5 Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ireland Perdana University, Malaysia
  • 6 University of Nottingham, UK Kavita.Vedhara@nottingham.ac.uk
J Health Psychol, 2016 05;21(5):607-18.
PMID: 24829376 DOI: 10.1177/1359105314532970

Abstract

We synthesised evidence on biological correlates of psychological stress in hospital-based healthcare professionals, and examined whether there was evidence of consistent biological changes. Electronic databases were searched for empirical studies; 16 articles (0.6%) met the inclusion criteria. Evidence of a relationship between indices of psychological stress and biological parameters was limited and inconsistent. There was some evidence of a consistent relationship between natural killer cells and lymphocyte subpopulations. Considerable heterogeneity in the methods used was seen. Future prospective studies examining the relationship between indices of psychological stress and natural killer cells, including lymphocyte subsets, is required.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.