Pilot study of office employee informational mental workload

Abstract

Introduction. Development of methodical base of information hygiene, systematization of data on levels of information loadings and degree of their influence on working conditions of workers is actual.The purpose of the study was to measure and evaluate the levels of information mental load of office workers, to study the patterns of development of adverse functional States in this professional group.Materials and methods. The pilot study included 25 employees of scientific and educational institutions aged 25 to 65 years. Measurement of information mental load of workers was carried out on the basis of a point assessment. Psychodiagnostics of performance of participants of research was carried out by means of a package of standard techniques. Heart rate telemetry was carried out in employees in the conditions of professional activity.Results. The integral indicator of information mental load of the studied professional group was 37.3±7.2 points and was in direct connection with the coefficient of comfort of the workplace (r=0.5, p=0.01). A reliable dependence of the speed of information processing on the length of work experience (r=0.71, p=0.0001) was also established. In the low-stress group, high indices of stress, fatigue, monotony were recorded in the workers, in the senior group — signs of chronic fatigue. The employees during the shift registered an increase in sympathetic activation.Conclusions. The results of the psychophysiological survey of employees indicate the need to regulate the information load, the development and implementation of preventive measures to reduce professional stress.