Tiina Teisala
- M.Sc. in health sciences/sports medicine, physiotherapist
- Currently writing her doctoral thesis on the relationship
between leisure-time physical activity and work stress with special
reference to heart rate variability analyses
- The doctor’s thesis consist of four sub studies of which the first is presented in this text
|
Tiina Teisala takes care of her own well-being by running.
|
I’m happy to tell about my doctoral thesis in
the area of sports medicine and about the results of the first sub study
and I’m thankful for the co-operation with other authors of the article
and with Firstbeat Technologies Ltd. The objective of this first sub
study was to investigate how different indicators of physical activity
(PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body composition are
associated with heart rate variability (HRV) based indicators of stress
and recovery on workdays. The second important aim was to preliminarily
evaluate the association of objectively measured stress with
self-reported burnout symptoms.
Participants of this cross-sectional study were 81 healthy males (age
range 26-40). Objective stress and recovery levels were determined with
Firstbeat Analysis Server program from HR recording data. HR recordings
were executed over three days using Firstbeat Bodyguard measurement
device. CRF and anthropometry were assessed in laboratory conditions.
The level of PA was based on a detailed PA interview (MET index [h/day])
and self-reported activity class.
The more exact methods, results and conclusions are available for
everyone as the research article is published in open access format.
However, in this text I tell about the results simply and clearly. The
results suggest that those who are physically more active , have better
fitness and body composition and less objective stress than their
physically more inactive counterparts who have lower fitness levels and
unfavorable body composition. From the figure 1 you can see that 27.5%
of the variance of total stress on workdays was accounted for by PA,
CRF, and body composition. Since the study was cross-sectional and there
was no follow-up, it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the
causality for example, which comes first; stress or inactivity.
Research on the field of physical activity and work-related stress is
important. As known, the mean age of employees is getting higher and
there is a pressure to lengthen the work careers. So, physical
inactivity and work stress prevention efforts are warranted. The
findings of the study suggest that physical activity, fitness, and body
composition are associated with HRV based stress and recovery levels,
which needs to be taken into account in the measurement, prevention and
treatment of work-related stress. On one hand, detailed interview-based
MET index and self-reported activity class, and on the other hand, body
fat percentage and BMI, associated rather similarly with the indicators
of stress and recovery. This suggests that easily collected
self-reported activity class and BMI can be used as indicators of PA and
body composition in clinical work. The current findings support the
usability of the objective indicators of stress as they were associated
with self-reported occupational burnout symptoms.
Overall, the results support the usability of this HRV-based method
in the evaluation of stress and recovery. However, more research is
needed. At the present I’m working on with my next sub study,
investigating the association of objective stress and recovery with
subjective stress. Due to the co-operation between the University of
Jyväskylä and Firstbeat Technologies Ltd, HR recordings have been
involved in several studies that have been executed in the department of
health sciences. In my further studies I continue to study the
usability of this stress assessment-methodology, developed by Firsbeat,
with larger study populations and different study settings.
Figure 1: The variance of stress and recovery
accounted for by physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body
composition. The factor loadings (standardized estimate and S.E.) of
body fat%, BMI, VO2max, MET index, activity class, and the factor
loadings (including R2) for Firstbeat variables: work stress (WS), total
stress (TS), stress index (SI), total recovery (TR), recovery index 24 h
(RI), RMSSD, stress balance (SB), and recovery index sleep (RIS).
Have a nice spring and summer. Remember to take care of yourselves and be physically active to avoid harmful stress!
Writer:
Tiina Teisala
M.Sc., Physiotherapist
For more detailed information see the original publication: Teisala
et al.: Associations of physical activity, fitness, and body
composition with heart rate variability–based indicators of stress and
recovery on workdays: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Occupational
Medicine and Toxicology 2014 9:16.Labels: cardiorespiratory fitness, Firstbeat, Firstbeat analysis, health sciences, heart rate variability, HRV, HRV-based method, laboratory conditions, physical activity
