Inhibiting the Physiological Stress Effects of a Sustained Attention Task on Shoulder Muscle Activity.

Fiona Wixted,Cliona O’Riordan,Leonard O’Sullivan

doi:10.3390/ijerph15010115

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate if a breathing technique could counteract the effects of hyperventilation due to a sustained attention task on shoulder muscle activity. Background: The trend towards higher levels of automation in industry is increasing. Consequently, manufacturing operators often monitor automated process for long periods of their work shift. Prolonged monitoring work requires sustained attention, which is a cognitive process that humans are typically poor at and find stressful. As sustained attention becomes an increasing requirement of manufacturing operators’ job content, the resulting stress experienced could contribute to the onset of many health problems, including work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Methods: The SART attention test was completed by a group of participants before and after a breathing intervention exercise. The effects of the abdominal breathing intervention on breathing rate, upper trapezius muscle activity and end-tidal CO2 were evaluated. Results: The breathing intervention reduced the moderation effect of end-tidal CO2 on upper trapezius muscle activity. Conclusions: Abdominal breathing could be a useful technique in reducing the effects of sustained attention work on muscular activity. Application: This research can be applied to highly-automated manufacturing industries, where prolonged monitoring of work is widespread and could, in its role as a stressor, be a potential contributor to WRMSDs.

Highlights

Automation continues to be a global trend with an estimate that about 1.3 million new industrial robots will be installed in factories around the world between 2015 and 2018 [1]
As subjective stress scores were not collected for SART1 the baseline condition, t-test was The results show a was used to analyse differences between and SART2 for athis variable
Some researchers have hypothesised that PetCO2 mediates the relationship between stress and muscle activity [22], but this study suggests that PetCO2 is a moderator rather than a mediator, at least in this relationship

Summary

Introduction

Automation continues to be a global trend with an estimate that about 1.3 million new industrial robots will be installed in factories around the world between 2015 and 2018 [1] This growth in automation has led to increased mental workload requirements for operators, in the form of prolonged vigilance work [2] requiring high levels of sustained attention. Some of these, including the mind-wandering theory and the mindlessness theory, suggest that a mindless approach is taken to monotonous monitoring work that leads to less focus on the task and more on internal thoughts [7,8] While both sets of theories have validity in different respects, the growing body of empirical research supporting resource theories gives them increasing credibility. Application: This research can be applied to highly-automated manufacturing industries, where prolonged monitoring of work is widespread and could, in its role as a stressor, be a potential contributor to WRMSDs

Methods

Results

Conclusion