Psychosomatic Medicine 7:342-346 (1945)
© 1945 American Psychosomatic Society

Effects on Industrial Production of the Administration of 5 Pregnenolone to Factory Workers, I

¹ John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

A study of eight skilled leather cutters was made over a period of eight weeks. The men received no incentive pay and the amount of production per se was therefore not a measure of the effects of experimental procedures. The wastage of leather was measured and compared when the men were taking 45 mgm. per day of 5 pregnenolone and when they were taking placebos indistinguishable from the pregnenolone pills. Pregnenolone administration was not found to lessen the wastage in cutting, sole leather.

Twelve turret lathe operators (8 men and 4 women) were studied in relation to their daily production of bayonets on a piece work incentive basis when taking pregnenolone and when they were taking placebos.

During placebo administration the efficiency of production increased 10.1%±2.18%. During pregnenolone administration the increase was 18.3%±1.71%. The difference of 8.2% is three times the standard deviation and the value of P is 0.005. The difference is therefore statistically significant.

Scrapped bayonets were less by 32.7% when the workers were taking pregnenolone in contrast to when they were taking placebos, but this difference between scrap figures is not quite statistically significant (P=0.06).

As medication was switched (Fig. 1) the production declined in the placebo group, rose in the pregnenolone group. This switchover effect occurred for each of two medication switches made during the series of tests.

On discontinuation of all medication an efficiency increase of about 10% remained during the four weeks the production was followed.

The rôle of job stress and incentive is discussed in relation to the findings.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. DAVISON, P. KOETS, W. G. SNOW, and L. G. GABRIELSON EFFECTS OF DELTA 5 PREGNENOLONE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Arch Intern Med, March 1, 1950; 85(3): 365 - 388. [Abstract] [PDF]