Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
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Cardiac Autonomic Control and Neural Arousal as Indexes of Fatigue in Professional Bus Drivers

  • Lecca, Luigi I. (CENTRALABS, University of Cagliari, Engineering Labs) ;
  • Fadda, Paolo (DICAAR-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari) ;
  • Fancello, Gianfranco (DICAAR-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari) ;
  • Medda, Andrea (DICAAR-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari) ;
  • Meloni, Michele (CENTRALABS, University of Cagliari, Engineering Labs)
  • Received : 2021.09.03
  • Accepted : 2022.01.23
  • Published : 2022.06.30
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Abstract

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 = 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: 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.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Authors are especially thankful to "Azienda Regionale Sarda Trasporti-ARST" for the logistic support of the research.

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