Low subjective social status in the police is linked to health-relevant changes in diurnal salivary alpha-amylase activity in Swiss police officers

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic data of included and excluded participants.

	Included	Excluded
	56	45
n	n (%)	n (%)	χ^2
Gender (male)	47 (83.9)	35 (77.7)	0.32
Police division			0.91
Proximity	20 (35.7)	15 (33.3)
Emergency	20 (35.7)	20 (44.4)
Criminal	16 (28.6)	10 (22.2)
Marital status			0.87
Single	14 (25.0)	15 (33.3)
Married	33 (58.9)	24 (53.3)
Divorced	9 (16.1)	6 (13.3)
Children (yes)	39 (69.6)	29 (64.4)	0.31
Smoking (yes)	9 (16.1)	6 (13.3)	0.15
	M(SD)	M(SD)	t
Age	39.46 (8.13)	40.42 (9.10)	0.56
Years of duty	14.30 (8.68)	15.61 (9.47)	0.72
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	26.71 (3.78)	26.10 (2.83)	0.37

Table 2. Descriptive information of self-reported status and health (individual/level 2 variables).

	Min	Max	Mean	SD
Subjective social status
Country	3	9	6.05	1.27
Community	3	9	6.20	1.24
Friends	4	10	6.82	1.44
Police	1	9	4.64	1.88
Health symptoms
Physical	1	34	11.23	7.82
Posttraumatic stress	42	88	63.75	10.96
Depression	0	9	2.93	2.34

Table 3. Saliva α-amylase activity (U/ml) and collection times (hrs) over two days.

	Wake up	Wake up +15 min	Wake up +30 min	Before lunch time	Afternoon	Before bed time
Day 1
sAA	72.41 (83.80)	33.84 (27.22)	35.81 (27.13)	105.73 (72.92)	107.21 (78.95)	87.22 (82.44)
Time	0640 (0131)	0655 (0131)	0711 (0130)	1225 (0048)	1922 (0105)	2307 (0050)
Day 2
sAA	77.10 (85.24)	25.47 (17.51)	31.60 (21.34)	115.71 (80.79)	108.57 (76.69)	88.42 (76.07)
Time	0628 (0115)	0643 (0115)	0700 (0114)	1232 (0105)	1920 (0055)	2305 (0102)

Mean (Standard Deviation).

Figure 1. Illustration of alpha-amylase activity by time according to high versus low subjective social status (SSS) in the police.

Figure 2. Illustration of alpha-amylase activity by time according to high versus low levels of physical problems (CHIPS).