Visual-Motor Reaction Parameters as Indicators of Fatigue in Emergency Medical Personnel

Abstract

Introduction: Factors of the work environment affect the functional state of the central nervous system of employees, which is manifested by changes in sensorimotor reactions. Professional tasks of emergency medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic determine high requirements for the stability of functional systems of the body. Objective: To study the influence of professional activities on the mobility of central nervous processes in ambulance workers. Materials and methods: The study was conducted at the Ryazan City Clinical Emergency Hospital in 2021. It included 44 ambulance workers (12 doctors and 32 paramedics), 12 men and 32 women with the mean age of 35.77 ± 3.39 years, working a 24-hour shift followed by 72 hours off. We studied parameters of the complex visual-motor reaction of the subjects including the average response times and the Whipple’s index using the “NS-Psychotest” computer complex equipped with the visual-motor analyzer. The data were analyzed using the Data Analysis ToolPak in Microsoft Excel 2007. Results: The established statistically significant increase in the average response time of ambulance employees by 60.75 ms (p < 0.001) by the end of the work shift indicates changes in the functional state of the central nervous system caused by fatigue. The analysis of the dynamics of indicators between the beginnings of neighboring shifts revealed positive trends expressed by an average decrease in the response time by 77.67 ms (p = 0.002) and an increase in the Whipple’s index by 0.07 (p < 0.0001) in most subjects after the regulated rest period, thus indicating the effectiveness of the processes of functional restoration of the central nervous system. Conclusions: By the end of the work shift, ambulance workers demonstrated increased average visual-motor reaction times. Age under 30 and 0–5-year work experience are risk factors for poor professional adaptation proven by a high proportion of the subjects with a statistical increase in the average reaction time during the work shift. Stabilization of the dynamics of inter-shift indicators when compared at the beginning of adjacent shifts indicates proper functional restoration of the central nervous system of emergency medical personnel during the 72-hour rest period.