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PubMed1993

Indices of mental workload in a complex task environment.

The aim of the present experiment is to evaluate heart rate variability (HRV) and cortisol as indices of mental workload in a complex environment. Heart rate was continuously recorded during flight scenarios that differed in difficulty. The HRV nicely reflected the changes in difficulty. The results support the idea that HRV is a sensitive index for mental workload when tasks are highly demanding and subjects are motivated to exert additional effort whenever the task becomes more demanding. Cortisol was only slightly increased on the experimental day compared to the training day. On the experimental day, post-task levels did not differ from pre-task levels. The level of cortisol in saliva was, however, related to overall task performance. Subjects who had a high level of cortisol had a low level of performance.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

General practitioners' workload after skin cancer/melanoma screening clinics in The Netherlands.

We studied the workload of the general practitioner after two skin cancer screening clinics in the Netherlands. Thirty-one physicians participated in the project. The numbers of patients presenting with benign and malignant skin lesions were recorded 2 weeks before and 6 weeks after the public campaigns. In the week immediately after the screening there was a small increase in the number of consultations for suspected skin cancer. Thereafter, the weekly number of malignant lesions decreased to precampaign levels. Subsequently to the campaigns the numbers of referrals for benign skin lesions decreased slightly. We conclude that the extra workload for the general practitioner generated by the screening campaigns has been negligible.

Family Practice↗

PubMed1993

Surviving the management game: workload measurement systems in a cost-conscious environment.

Using a procedure-based occupational therapy workload measurement system developed at, and applied by, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, this paper explores the objectives of such a system from the point of view of the occupational therapy manager. It also takes into account the synergistic relationship between the occupational therapist and the administrative/business aspect of health care, paying special attention to past and present trends in health-care accountability. In this paper it is argued that occupational therapy managers must relate their procedures and overhead costs to actual client care, if they are to be included in programme management and client costing. The process used by occupational therapy to describe its own procedures for the system is outlined. The system was then developed in conjunction with other institutional, financial and management tools for the client cost conversion process. By using a procedure based workload measurement system, occupational therapy is able to accurately describe client costing, thereby articulating our role in client care.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗

PubMed1994

Workload measurement: A survey of computerized data collection.

The results of a national survey which examined current computer usage and occupational therapist direct entry of Workload Measurement Data is presented. Results indicated an almost equal distribution of departments using computers versus not using computers. A variety of software packages are used for the purposes of collecting workload measurement data, but the majority of departments use customized in-house programmes. The most common method of data entry was a clerk in a central location, however, a number of departments are considering a switch to therapist direct entry. Advantages and disadvantages of both methods were described by survey respondents.

Canada↗

PubMed1995

Evaluation of the cost effectiveness of therapist computerized entry of occupational therapy workload measurement data.

A study was conducted to examine the cost effectiveness of two methods of managing occupational therapy workload measurement data. The computer entry of statistical data by a clerk in a central location was compared to multi-site direct input of data by therapists. Cost effectiveness, efficiency and accuracy of each method were the primary outcomes. Ease of coordination and level of computer comfort were secondary outcomes. It was clear that clerk entry of data was more cost effective, efficient and accurate than therapist entry of data. The monitoring of monthly data entry was best facilitated by clerk entry. Therapists had a positive attitude towards direct entry but were unable to approximate the speed and accuracy of the data entry clerk. Therapists' comfort with computers increased slightly during the study. Since the prime purpose of the study was to examine cost effectiveness, it was concluded that clerk entry of workload data is the best use of resources.

Canada↗

PubMed2005

Assessing mental workload during laparoscopic surgery.

Although the use of performance efficiency measures (speed, movement economy, errors) and ergonomic assessments are relatively well established, the evaluation of cognitive outcomes is rare. This report makes the case for assessment strategies that include mental workload measures as a way to improve training scenarios and training/operating environments. These mental workload measures can be crucially important in determining the difference between well-intentioned but subtly distracting technologies and true breakthroughs that will enhance performance and reduce stress.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2003

Gender differences in workload effect on coordination between breathing and cycling.

PURPOSE: To investigate the gender differences in the effect of increasing workload level and thus of an increasing metabolic drive to ventilation on the degree of coordination between breathing and cycling rhythms. METHODS: Twenty-one men and 21 women cycled on an electromagnetically braked ergometer while breathing through a pneumotachograph at workloads corresponding to 55, 75, and 95% of V0(2peak) (WL1, WL2, and WL3). Leg movements, respiratory parameters, and heart rate were continuously recorded. The degree of coordination (%coord) was quantified as the percentage of breaths starting during the same phase of leg movement. RESULTS: In men, %coord increased with increasing exercise intensity (WL1: mean +/- SE = 18.8 +/- 2.6%, WL2: 30.9 +/- 4.9%, WL3: 40.9 +/- 5.6%), whereas in women exercise intensity had no influence on %coord (WL1: 25.0 +/- 5.0%, WL2: 29.7 +/- 5.1, WL3: 31.7 +/- 4.7%). There were no gender differences in breathing pattern during high metabolic demands. A major effect on %coord came from the regularity of the breathing rhythm, whereas cycling frequency, fitness level, or cycling experience exerted no influence. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that the effect of exercise intensity on the occurrence of coordination between breathing and cycling rhythms differs between men and women.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Health advisor workload.

Health advisors (HAs) are an integral part of the multidisciplinary team within genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics, with a pivotal role in the National Sexual Health Strategy by enhancing liaison between community sexual health provision and GU medicine services. Greater clarity is needed about HAs' current activities and workload in order to enable benchmarking and ensure accurate workforce planning. We describe a tool for assessing HA workload and activity and evaluating its use in real clinic environments through a prospective time and motion model. Ten centres (63% of those invited to participate) within a single region did so. Median HA working times were calculated at almost 15 min/patient consultation and approximately 10 min/telephone call. Although there were strong positive correlations between HA availability and some markers of clinical activity, these were weaker than similar correlations applied to medical staff, raising the possibility of suboptimal HA workforce planning.

Delivery of Health Care↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Intergenerational differences in workloads among primary care physicians: a ten-year, population-based study.

Analyses of population-based services and surveys in Canada from the early 1990s and early 2000s indicate that younger and middle-aged family physicians carried smaller workloads in 2003 than their same-age peers did ten years earlier and that older family physicians carried larger workloads in 2003 than their same-age peers did ten years earlier. Yet family physicians in all age groups worked similar numbers of hours in 2003. Intergenerational effects are similar for male and female physicians, although feminization of the workforce will affect supply, as a result of the falling service volumes delivered by women.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Mission control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles: a workload analysis.

With unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 36 licensed pilots flew both single-UAV and dual-UAV simulated military missions. Pilots were required to navigate each UAV through a series of mission legs in one of the following three conditions: a baseline condition, an auditory autoalert condition, and an autopilot condition. Pilots were responsible for (a) mission completion, (b) target search, and (c) systems monitoring. Results revealed that both the autoalert and the autopilot automation improved overall performance by reducing task interference and alleviating workload. The autoalert system benefited performance both in the automated task and mission completion task, whereas the autopilot system benefited performance in the automated task, the mission completion task, and the target search task. Practical implications for the study include the suggestion that reliable automation can help alleviate task interference and reduce workload, thereby allowing pilots to better handle concurrent tasks during single- and multiple-UAV flight control.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiac measures of driver workload during simulated driving with and without visual occlusion.

Cardiac (heart rate, pre-ejection period, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia), performance, and visual demand measures of driver workload were obtained from 15 male university students who drove a simulated course multiple times at a fixed speed of 72.4 km/h. The course contained curves of 3 different radii (582, 291, and 194 m) and was driven with and without visual occlusion of the road scene to manipulate driver workload. Visual occlusion of the road scene significantly reduced driving performance but did not affect the cardiac measures. Driving performance significantly deteriorated and visual demand significantly increased as curve radius decreased. The cardiac measures were differentially affected by curve radius, indicating different modes of autonomic control for the 291-m curve as compared with the 582- and 194-m curves. The patterns of dissociation across the cardiac, performance, and visual demand measures were interpreted as being capable of isolating the perceptual demands of driving from the central and motor processing demands. A potential application of this research is that the combination of psychophysiological and visual occlusion methodologies are a powerful research tool to assess performance and processing resource cost trade-offs associated with using advanced in-vehicle technologies.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sensitivity and diagnosticity of the 0.1-Hz component of heart rate variability as an indicator of mental workload.

We investigated whether the 0.1-Hz component of heart rate variability (HRV) allows one to discriminate among levels of mental work stress induced by different types of tasks (diagnosticity) as well as among those induced by different levels of difficulty (sensitivity). Our 14 participants were presented 14 tasks of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development Standardized Tests for Research with Environmental Stressors battery in a repeated-measures design. Sufficient sensitivity was obtained for a discrimination between work and rest, but we found no support for a more fine-grained sensitivity. Concerning diagnosticity, only the grammatical reasoning task could be discriminated from all other tasks, indicating for this task a level of mental strain comparable to rest, which was in contrast with the results both for perceived difficulty and performance. We propose that HRV is an indicator for time pressure or emotional strain, not for mental workload, given that it seems to allow discrimination between tasks with and without pacing. Application of this research argues against using HRV as a measure of mental and especially cognitive workload, particularly where system safety or occupational risks may be at stake (e.g., when evaluating operator tasks or interface design in control room operations).

Adult↗

PubMed1992

[Changes in mental workload and fatigue during performance of a mental task. 1. An experiment in 8-h self-paced transcribing task].

The changes in mental workload and fatigue during a one-day transcribing task were examined by determining some subjective and physiological measures which reflect mental activity. With an interval of one week between the three test days, 12 male students rested and performed self-paced transcribing task with moderate and maximum effort for 8 h each. The subjects transcribed more characters in the task with maximum effort than with moderate effort. In both the morning and afternoon, adrenaline excretion increased and heart rate decreased with the lapse of time. In linear proportion to the total working hours, occipital midline beta-2 amplitude, subjective rating of tiredness and subjective symptoms of fatigue rose, but critical flicker values fell slightly in the task with maximum effort. It was inferred from these results that with lapse of working hours intellectual activity and feeling of fatigue increase and the level of arousal slightly declines. Hence, it was considered that mental workload becomes heavier and subjective feeling of fatigue increases as the working hours become longer.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

[Workload of women workers rearing their children, evaluated by catecholamine excretion, salivary cortisol and self-rated scores of fatigue].

The study was designed to examine the extent of the workload in female workers with children, in the office and at home, as compared with that of male workers with children and single women workers. Urine and saliva were collected during the daytime and evening on workdays and days off, and catecholamines in urine and cortisol in saliva were analyzed. Heart rate, blood pressure and frequencies of subjective fatigue symptoms were also measured. In the three groups, urinary excretion of adrenaline during daytime work was found to be significantly higher than on days off. The difference between workdays and days off in evening adrenaline excretion tended to be greater in the 'women with children' group than in their male counterparts. Urinary noradrenaline and salivary cortisol in women with children showed a tendency to be higher in the afternoon and evening on workdays than that on days off, while no difference between workdays and days off was observed in the other two groups. The heart rate in women with children was greater during the evening on workdays than that on days off. The frequency of subjective fatigue symptoms in women with children increased with the time of day on workdays, but remained unchanged on days off. The findings suggest that the workload of female workers rearing their children is greater than that of male counterparts, both in the office and at home, on workdays.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

[Evaluation of mental workload of short-term memory task by secondary task performance and frontal midline theta rhythm].

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the mental workload of short-term memory task by two objective measures, the secondary task performance and the frontal midline theta rhythm (Fm theta) of the electroencephalogram (EEG). First, to choose Fm theta appearance subjects EEGs were recorded for 18 male students during performing additional task. On Fm theta appearance subjects (8 males) a series of short-term memory task with changed number of memorable figures was imposed as the primary task, and tracking task as the secondary task. The task that presents seven numbers will be over the subjects' limits of short-term memory, and it was the threshold that the subjects' mental workload will be increased.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Task-specific sex differences in vigilance performance: subjective workload and boredom.

Participants (24 men, 24 women) were asked to perform either a spatial or temporal vigilance task. Task-related Boredom and NASA-Task Load Index scores were collected. The results replicate Dittmar, Warm, Dember, and Ricks' 1993 finding of task-specific sex differences in vigilance performance and subjective workload. The present study also showed task-specific sex differences for boredom ratings. These results suggest that two explanations may account for the sex differences. More accurate perceptual discriminations may account for some of the differences in performance; however, sex differences in perceived boredom may more likely be responsible for the task-specific sex differences in vigilance performance and subjective workload.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Psychosocial factors, workload, and human error in a simulated pharmacy dispensing task.

Participants filled 42 orders on a task designed to simulate components of filling prescriptions. Task factors included objective workload of 70- versus 80-min. to complete the task and perceptions of workload dimensions using the NASA Task Load Index. The proportion and pattern of data-entry, counting, and product-selection errors were compatible with those found in pharmacy field-sites. Significant other relationship stress, field-dependence, and an 80-min. workpace predicted data-entry errors. Mistakes in product selection were associated with low GPA, high social stress, the NASA Task Load Index dimension of less concern with performing well, and a 70-min. workpace. Relationship of data to corresponding information in the pharmacy literature and to assumptions of a cognitive-systems performance model was discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Smoking in pregnancy: a way to cope with excessive workload?

OBJECTIVE: To examine if abstention from smoking in pregnancy increases with opportunities to limit workload. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study based on self-administered questionnaires to women post partum. SETTING: All maternity wards in Norway, 16 October-26 November 1989. SUBJECTS: 5 438 women, or 87.2% of all parturients in Norway during the study period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The abstention fraction (AF) defined as percentage of nonsmokers in pregnancy among prepregnancy daily smokers. RESULTS: The abstention fraction was lower for women with lack of influence on work pace, with hectic work pace, exhaustion after work or work schedules other than daytime, for women with children <16 years of age in the household, and for women in paid work with 20 hours or more of housework weekly, than for women without these conditions. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) for abstention were low for women with children <16 years both when in paid work (OR 0.4) and as housewives (OR 0.3). Women who received extra help with housework had a high abstention fraction (OR 1.6) both when in paid work and as housewives. The abstention fraction was high for women with daytime work (OR 1.5) and low with hectic work pace (OR 0.7), compared with women without these conditions. CONCLUSION: Abstention from smoking in pregnancy increases with opportunities to limit total workload.

Adaptation, Psychological↗