Elisabeth M Goffeng, Karl-Christian Nordby, Mika Tarvainen, Susanna Järvelin-Pasanen, Anthony Wagstaff, Øivind Skare, Jenny-Anne Lie
BACKGROUND: The work schedules of airline crewmembers include extended workdays, compressed work periods, and limited time for recovery, which may lead to cardiovascular strain and fatigue. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in heart rate variability (HRV) during work and sleep, and with respect to work characteristics and breaks. METHODS: We followed 49 airline crewmembers during four consecutive workdays of ≥39 h. Data included HRV measurements, a questionnaire, and sleep/work diaries. HRV parameters include root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), standard deviation of the normal beat-to-beat differences (SDNN), and the low and high frequency ratio (LF/HF)...
November 1, 2019: Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance