Application of autonomic nervous function evaluation to job stress screening

Abstract

The present study focuses on the evaluation of autonomic nervous function, which is increasingly being used as an objective measure of fatigue state. It has recently been reported that autonomic nervous activity, which is expressed as total heart rate variability (HRV) power, is associated with, and can be used as an objective measure of, mental and physical fatigue. Total HRV power (log (LF + HF)) has been shown to decline with ageing, and thus cannot be utilized as a fatigue index in populations with a different age composition. In the present study, we devised standard scores (deviation value) for autonomic nervous activity corrected for individual age calculated from the distribution of such activity in individual age cohorts. This allowed us to accurately evaluate an individual's autonomic nervous activity, even when that individual was part of a group with members of different ages. Standard scores were quantified using autonomic nervous function data gathered from 1,969 healthy individuals (age range 20–77 years).The efficacy of this method in mental health screening was investigated by evaluating both autonomic nervous function and subjective levels of fatigue among corporate workers. Based on results from the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire recommended by the research team of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 103 participants were divided into two groups (a high-stress group [n = 17] and a non–high-stress group [n = 86]). Visual analog scale (VAS) scores for all fatigue-related symptoms were significantly higher among the high-stress than among the non–high-stress group (p < 0.01).The mean standard score for autonomic nervous activity was 56.3 for the non–high-stress group. The score for the high-stress group was significantly lower, at 47.9 (p < 0.01), indicating that autonomic nervous function was reduced among participants who experienced high stress. According to an analysis of raw and standard scores in each domain, autonomic nervous activity did not significantly correlate with stress-causing factors (e.g., overwork) or other factors affecting stress responses (e.g., support from supervisors and colleagues), but did exhibit a significant positive correlation with physical and mental responses to stress (r = 0.334, p < 0.01). Lower raw scores for mental and physical responses to stress represent stronger subjective symptoms. Moreover, greater stress responses were found to be associated with lower standard scores for autonomic nervous activity.In terms of fatigue-related symptoms rated using the VAS, autonomic nervous activity negatively correlated with mental stress, physical stress, fatigue/malaise, depressed mood, anxiety/fear, tension, irritation/anger, cognitive decline, and muscle/joint/general pain, and positively correlated with motivation/vitality. Reduced autonomic nervous activity was observed with high stress, confirming that standard scores for autonomic nervous activity are associated with mental and physical responses to stress and subjective fatigue-related symptoms.These res...

Altered heart rate variability and pulse-wave velocity after spinal cord injury

“…Overall, simultaneous decreases in the HRV frequency domains TP, LF, and HF were more likely in people under great long-term cardiovascular pressure, demonstrating a relationship between autonomic function and fatigue status. The relationship between autonomic function and fatigue was demonstrated previously in populations of different ages[ 24 ]. In the present pilot study, vascular age assessment showed that arterial elasticity was generally poorer among those with SCI compared to those without, suggesting inferior vasculature in SCI patients.…”

“…Our results also are consistent with those of many previous studies assessing HRV and PWV parameters. However, while the present study used simultaneous measurement of HRV and PWV using an HRV analyzer[ 23 , 24 ], previous studies applied various techniques to simultaneously measure HRV[ 13 , 15 - 17 ] and PWV parameters[ 5 , 19 - 21 ] separately. The SA-3000P HRV analyzer is a non-invasive and quick evaluation tool that can detect cardiovascular complications after SCI, facilitating appropriate early intervention.…”

Relationship Between Subjective Ratings of Answers and Behavioral and Autonomic Nervous Activities During Creative Problem-Solving via Online Conversation

“…As for objective (2), the autonomic nervous activity results showed that the answerer’s skin conductance was high and that of the supporter was low in highly rated trials, as compared with lowly rated trials. Autonomic nervous activity is known to be affected by both physical activity and mental state ( Kotani et al, 2007a , b ; Numata et al, 2013 , 2015 ; Okawa et al, 2019 ; Ziemssen and Siepmann, 2019 ; Park et al, 2020 ). Because the behavioral results showed no significant differences in the comparison between highly trials and lowly rated trials, the physical activities of the answerer and supporter were not supposed to differ depending on the subjective ratings of answers.…”

Increase in rear-end collision risk by acute stress-induced fatigue in on-road truck driving

“…In addition, the LF/HF ratio, which represents the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve activity, was also calculated. LF and HF are affected by heart rate and aging [ 27 , 28 ], and as we cannot control drivers’ heart rates and ages in actual working shifts, we utilized the devised score of LF and HF using a method described in previous studies [ 10 , 29 , 30 ]. The LF deviation score LF score was defined by the following formula: where, μ LF ( age ) and σ LF ( age ) are the mean and standard deviation of age , respectively, in the LF standard distribution N LF; age that approximates a normal distribution.…”