The effects of VDT work on urinary excretion of catecholamines

Abstract

The mental components of 2 hours of VDT work for three age groups of volunteers were investigated using urinary excretions of noradrenaline and adrenaline. After the work of searching for target words, the noradrenaline excretion showed a tendency to decrease in the young group, a significant increase in the middle-aged and a tendency to increase in the elderly. There was no change in adrenaline excretion in any age group. The elderly had a slower work speed than the young or middle-aged. Noradrenaline excretion showed a significant increase after VDT work using small letters, no significant change with large letters and a tendency to decrease after hard-copy work. The adrenaline excretion, did not change. The work speed was slower during the VDT work with small letters than during the hard-copy work These data suggest that the elevated level of sympathetic nervous activity resulting from VDT work is not caused by the VDT itself but by the intensity of the VDT work, and suggest that the effect of the VDT work may be exacerbated by aging.