Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Issue 2 2022
Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers (Original article)
Dublin Core
Title
Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Issue 2 2022
Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers (Original article)
Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers (Original article)
Subject
Autonomic nervous system, Flicker fusion, Heart rate control, Mental fatigue, Sleep disorders
Description
Background: 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: 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: 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 1⁄4 0.041), and heart rate significantly decreased in the final phase of driving, with
respect to the initial phase (85 vs. 78 bpm, p 1⁄4 0.027). Increasing age (beta 1⁄4 -0.729, p 1⁄4 0.022), risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (beta 1⁄4 -0.530, p 1⁄4 0.04), and diurnal sleepiness (beta 1⁄4 -0.406,
p 1⁄4 0.017) showed a significant effect on influencing mental fatigue.
Conclusion: 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.
Methods: 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: 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 1⁄4 0.041), and heart rate significantly decreased in the final phase of driving, with
respect to the initial phase (85 vs. 78 bpm, p 1⁄4 0.027). Increasing age (beta 1⁄4 -0.729, p 1⁄4 0.022), risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (beta 1⁄4 -0.530, p 1⁄4 0.04), and diurnal sleepiness (beta 1⁄4 -0.406,
p 1⁄4 0.017) showed a significant effect on influencing mental fatigue.
Conclusion: 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.
Creator
Luigi I. Lecca, Paolo Fadda, Gianfranco Fancello, Andrea Medda, Michele Meloni
Publisher
Elsevier Korea LLC
Date
June 2022
Contributor
Sri Wahyuni
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Coverage
Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Issue 2 2022
Files
Citation
Luigi I. Lecca, Paolo Fadda, Gianfranco Fancello, Andrea Medda, Michele Meloni, “Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Issue 2 2022
Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers (Original article),” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed March 13, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2261.
Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers (Original article),” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed March 13, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2261.