[Urinary excretion of adrenaline, noradrenaline and 11-hydroxycorticoids under job stress (author's transl)].

The role of the sympathoadrenomedullary and adrenocortical systems has been assessed by measuring serially the urinary excretion of free adrenaline, noradrenaline and 11-hydroxycorticosteroids in 32 healthy men under two conditions of job stress: piece-work and assembly line. The urinary levels of two catecholamines and 11-hydroxycorticosteroids rose significantly in piece work and assembly line workers, compared with the values observed respectively during salaried and "ordinary" work. Identical results were obtained in the same workers after six months of stressor exposure to piece-work and assembly line conditions. The results support the assumption that long-term exposure of conditions of work stress significant effects on the function under study, this being in the same direction and of the same order of magnitude as that described during short-term exposure in other types of every-day stress and distress. The methodological and clinical implication of these results are discussed.