Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers.

Autonomic nervous system Flicker fusion Heart rate control Mental fatigue Sleep disorders

Journal

Safety and health at work
ISSN: 2093-7911
Titre abrégé: Saf Health Work
Pays: Korea (South)
ID NLM: 101542940

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
Jun 2022
Historique:
received: 03 09 2021
revised: 19 12 2021
accepted: 23 01 2022
entrez: 6 6 2022
pubmed: 7 6 2022
medline: 7 6 2022
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

Bus driving is a mentally demanding activity that requires prolonged attention to ensure safety. The aim of the study was to assess mental fatigue caused by driving a public bus and to find a profile of workers at higher risk. We evaluated changes of critical flicker fusion (CFF) (index of central arousal) and heart rate variability (HRV) (index of autonomic balance) in a 6-hour driving shift on a real route, in 31 professional bus drivers, and we tested the influence of personal factors such as sleep quality, BMI, and age. Paired t-test was used to test differences of CFF and HRV between both initial and final phase of driving, while multiple linear regression tested the influence of personal variables on the indexes of mental fatigue. Results showed that CFF significantly decreased after 6 hours of bus driving (41.91 Hz, sd 3.31 vs. 41.15 Hz, sd 3.15; p = 0.041), and heart rate significantly decreased in the final phase of driving, with respect to the initial phase (85 vs. 78 bpm, p = 0.027). Increasing age (beta = -0.729, p = 0.022), risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (beta = -0.530, p = 0.04), and diurnal sleepiness (beta = -0.406, p = 0.017) showed a significant effect on influencing mental fatigue. Elderly drivers at higher risk of sleep disorders are more prone to mental fatigue, when exposed to driving activity. Monitoring indexes of central arousal and autonomic balance, coupled with the use of structured questionnaires can represent a useful strategy to detect profile of workers at higher risk of mental fatigue in such duty.

Sections du résumé

Background UNASSIGNED
Bus driving is a mentally demanding activity that requires prolonged attention to ensure safety. The aim of the study was to assess mental fatigue caused by driving a public bus and to find a profile of workers at higher risk.
Methods UNASSIGNED
We evaluated changes of critical flicker fusion (CFF) (index of central arousal) and heart rate variability (HRV) (index of autonomic balance) in a 6-hour driving shift on a real route, in 31 professional bus drivers, and we tested the influence of personal factors such as sleep quality, BMI, and age. Paired t-test was used to test differences of CFF and HRV between both initial and final phase of driving, while multiple linear regression tested the influence of personal variables on the indexes of mental fatigue.
Results UNASSIGNED
Results showed that CFF significantly decreased after 6 hours of bus driving (41.91 Hz, sd 3.31 vs. 41.15 Hz, sd 3.15; p = 0.041), and heart rate significantly decreased in the final phase of driving, with respect to the initial phase (85 vs. 78 bpm, p = 0.027). Increasing age (beta = -0.729, p = 0.022), risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (beta = -0.530, p = 0.04), and diurnal sleepiness (beta = -0.406, p = 0.017) showed a significant effect on influencing mental fatigue.
Conclusion UNASSIGNED
Elderly drivers at higher risk of sleep disorders are more prone to mental fatigue, when exposed to driving activity. Monitoring indexes of central arousal and autonomic balance, coupled with the use of structured questionnaires can represent a useful strategy to detect profile of workers at higher risk of mental fatigue in such duty.

Identifiants

pubmed: 35664913
doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2022.01.007
pii: S2093-7911(22)00007-5
pmc: PMC9142350
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

148-154

Informations de copyright

© 2022 Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Références

Traffic Inj Prev. 2010 Aug;11(4):334-41
pubmed: 20730680
Front Psychol. 2016 Oct 26;7:1597
pubmed: 27833569
PLoS One. 2014 Feb 05;9(2):e87121
pubmed: 24505277
Circulation. 1996 Mar 1;93(5):1043-65
pubmed: 8598068
PLoS One. 2016 Nov 30;11(11):e0166262
pubmed: 27902703
Circulation. 2000 Oct 17;102(16):1912-6
pubmed: 11034938
Front Physiol. 2015 Nov 19;6:343
pubmed: 26635629
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004 Jun;92(1-2):84-9
pubmed: 14991326
Eur Heart J. 2018 Sep 1;39(33):3021-3104
pubmed: 30165516
Sleep. 1991 Dec;14(6):540-5
pubmed: 1798888
Am J Ophthalmol. 1959 Apr;47(4):556-65
pubmed: 13637174
BMC Public Health. 2017 Jul 3;17(1):620
pubmed: 28673271
J Safety Res. 2020 Feb;72:173-187
pubmed: 32199560
Front Psychol. 2021 Jan 12;11:608217
pubmed: 33510685
Front Physiol. 2018 Jul 16;9:841
pubmed: 30061838
Int J Psychophysiol. 2016 Nov;109:124-131
pubmed: 27585951
PLoS One. 2017 Oct 31;12(10):e0187256
pubmed: 29088276
Accid Anal Prev. 2020 Sep;144:105656
pubmed: 32629228
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007 Jul;31(7):1208-17
pubmed: 17451397
Psychiatry Res. 1989 May;28(2):193-213
pubmed: 2748771
Work. 2009;32(1):5-10
pubmed: 19276520
Physiol Behav. 2008 Jun 9;94(3):448-53
pubmed: 18402991
Int J Med Inform. 2018 Nov;119:39-46
pubmed: 30342684
Sleep. 2014 Jul 01;37(7):1257-67
pubmed: 24987165
J Neurol Sci. 2000 Oct 1;179(S 1-2):34-42
pubmed: 11054483
Psychophysiology. 1997 Nov;34(6):623-48
pubmed: 9401419
Ind Health. 2014;52(1):25-35
pubmed: 24292879
World J Cardiol. 2015 Apr 26;7(4):204-14
pubmed: 25914789
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Aug 27;15(9):
pubmed: 30150599
Saf Health Work. 2018 Jun;9(2):159-163
pubmed: 29928529
Br J Radiol. 2019 Jul;92(1099):20190043
pubmed: 30933540
Med Lav. 2019 Dec 17;110(6):437-445
pubmed: 31846448
Am J Surg. 2008 Feb;195(2):195-204
pubmed: 18194679
J Med Syst. 2019 Feb 4;43(3):61
pubmed: 30715619
J Occup Environ Med. 2017 Apr;59(4):397-401
pubmed: 28628048
Int J Occup Environ Med. 2019 Oct;10(4):174-184
pubmed: 31586382
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Nov 14;15(11):
pubmed: 30441867
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2018 May;53(5):531-536
pubmed: 29285594
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jun 18;17(12):
pubmed: 32570777
Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2007 Mar;67(1):6-9
pubmed: 17564278
Chest. 2016 Mar;149(3):631-8
pubmed: 26378880
Anesth Analg. 2018 May;126(5):1763-1768
pubmed: 29481436
Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 2014;113(1):210-20
pubmed: 24054542
J Occup Environ Med. 2011 Jul;53(7):806-11
pubmed: 21701400

Auteurs

Luigi I Lecca (LI)

CENTRALABS, University of Cagliari, Engineering Labs, SS 554, Km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy.
Doctoral Program in Clinical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Paolo Fadda (P)

DICAAR-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Italy.

Gianfranco Fancello (G)

DICAAR-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Italy.

Andrea Medda (A)

DICAAR-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Italy.

Michele Meloni (M)

CENTRALABS, University of Cagliari, Engineering Labs, SS 554, Km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy.

Classifications MeSH