Seasonal variation in self-reported arousal and subjective health complaints

Emotional design pictures: Pleasant but too weak to evoke arousal and attract attention?

A new field of research builds on the theoretical assumption that distinct design manipulations, such as human-like features with appealing colors (emotional design), foster multimedia learning by influencing the learners' affective state (i.e., valence and arousal) and attention. Empirical studies, however, provide inconsistent findings of the affective potential of emotional design, underlining the need for psychophysiological measurements to assess the affective state and attention more objectively. The effects of differently designed stimuli (picture-text combinations with anthropomorphic pictures in bright and saturated colors [emotional design], picture-text combinations with non-anthropomorphic pictures in grayscale [neutral design], and plain text [control design]) on junior high school students' valence (N = 15), arousal (N = 18), and attention (N = 27) were examined. Valence was determined by students' judgments on a rating scale; arousal and attention were assessed by psychophysiological parameters (electrodermal activity of students and their dwell time on stimuli, respectively). To allow the examination of valence and arousal as separate dimensions, two independent experiments were conducted. Results of experiment I show that students perceived emotional design stimuli as more pleasant than stimuli in neutral or control design. Besides, an interaction with the content of the stimuli was found. While the positive effect of the emotional design was found for concepts that could be interpreted as potentially positive (e.g., sunlight) or neutral (e.g., consumer), stimuli representing potentially negative concepts (e.g., dead consumer) were not perceived as more pleasant if presented in emotional design. Experiment II shows that emotional design did not induce higher arousal than neutral and control designs and did not attract more attention. Instead, the text within picture-text combinations (emotional and neutral designs) attracted more attention when pictures were presented in neutral than in emotional design. By investigating the emotional state more differentiated and by examining arousal and attention using psychophysiological parameters, the present study helps to understand the heterogeneous findings of previous studies.

Seasonal Variation in Parental Satisfaction With Pediatric Orthopaedics

BACKGROUND

The degree of parental satisfaction with health care is determined by the family's characteristics and expectations. Many aspects of human physiology and behavior have seasonal rhythms. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether parental satisfaction scores vary across the year in a pediatric orthopaedic outpatient population.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed a total of 22,951 parental satisfaction scores related to outpatient pediatric orthopaedic encounters between October 2015 and April 2019. Parental satisfaction was measured using the provider subdomain of the shortened version of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). Families were stratified according to various pediatric orthopaedic subspecialty services.

RESULTS

The satisfaction scores of all pediatric orthopaedic encounters combined did not vary significantly across the year (P=0.8745). When the families were stratified into groups by pediatric orthopaedic subspecialty clinic, variation in seasons was not associated with statistically significant variation in satisfaction scores for the elective surgery, sports medicine, trauma/fracture care, and hand/upper extremity services. However, satisfaction with the spine service was significantly lower in the winter compared with the summer and fall (73.9±3.8 vs. 83.5±5.3 and 82.6±3.6, respectively; P=0.0147).

CONCLUSIONS

The provision of pediatric spine care in a region with 4 distinct seasons received lower parental satisfaction scores during the winter than during the summer and fall. This seasonal variation is an additional source of bias in the measurement of satisfaction with health care.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level II-retrospective study.

Seasonal variation of spontaneous blink rate and beta EEG activity

Seasonal variations of the photoperiod have been shown to regulate biological and behavioral functions, with also effects on clinical symptom and course of several psychiatric conditions. Although melatonin is considered the principal signal used to transmit informations about the light and dark cycle, a dopamine (DA) role in regulating seasonal changes has been suggested. Few studies have addressed a seasonal pattern of dopamine, and human studies have been conducted on inter-subject differences, comparing measures obtained during fall-winter with those of spring-summer. We studied within-subject seasonal changes of blink rate (BR), a indirect marker of central DA activity, in 26 normal subjects (15 females and 11 males, mean age: 24.7 ± 4.0) during winter, spring, summer and fall. Occipital EEG activity and subjective measures of vigilance and mood were also assessed to account for variations on arousal and fatigue. A significant seasonal effect was found for BR, with higher rate in summer, and for EEG beta activity, with higher activity in spring and summer. Subjective fatigue was found higher in winter. According to our data, it is possible that higher BR and increased EEG beta activity result by an arousal activation sustained by dopamine systems during the months with a long photoperiod.

Seasonal Variation in Bright Daylight Exposure, Mood and Behavior among a Group of Office Workers in Sweden

The purpose of the study was to investigate seasonal variation in mood and behavior among a group of office workers in Sweden (56°N). Thirty subjects participated in this longitudinal study. The subjects kept a weekly log that included questionnaires for ratings of psychological wellbeing and daily sleep-activity diaries where they also noted time spent outdoors. The lighting conditions in the offices were subjectively evaluated during one day, five times over the year. There was a seasonal variation in positive affect and in sleep-activity behavior. Across the year, there was a large variation in the total time spent outdoors in daylight. The subjects reported seasonal variation concerning the pleasantness, variation and strength of the light in the offices and regarding the visibility in the rooms. Finally, the subjects spent most of their time indoors, relying on artificial lighting, which demonstrates the importance of the lighting quality in indoor environments.

Psychosocial effects of workplace physical exercise among workers with chronic pain: Randomized controlled trial

While workplace physical exercise can help manage musculoskeletal disorders, less is known about psychosocial effects of such interventions. This aim of this study was to investigate the effect of workplace physical exercise on psychosocial factors among workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain.The trial design was a 2-armed parallel-group randomized controlled trial with allocation concealment. A total of 66 slaughterhouse workers (51 men and 15 women, mean age 45 years [standard deviation (SD) 10]) with upper limb chronic musculoskeletal pain were randomly allocated to group-based strength training (physical exercise group) or individual ergonomic training and education (reference group) for 10 weeks. Social climate was assessed with the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work, and vitality and mental health were assessed with the 36-item Short Form Health Survey. All scales were converted to 0 to 100 (higher scores are better). Between-group differences from baseline to follow-up were determined using linear mixed models adjusted for workplace, age, gender, and baseline values of the outcome.Mean baseline scores of social climate, mental health, and vitality were 52.2 (SD 14.9), 79.5 (SD 13.7), and 53.9 (SD 19.7), respectively. Complete baseline and follow-up data were obtained from 30 and 31 from the physical exercise and reference groups, respectively. The between-group differences from baseline to follow-up between physical exercise and reference were 7.6 (95% CI 0.3 to 14.9), -2.3 (95% CI -10.3 to 5.8), and 10.1 (95% CI 0.6 to 19.5) for social climate, mental health, and vitality, respectively. For social climate and vitality, this corresponded to moderate effect sizes (Cohen d = 0.51 for both) in favor of physical exercise. There were no reported adverse events.In conclusion, workplace physical exercise performed together with colleagues improves social climate and vitality among workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Mental health remained unchanged.

Strength Training Improves Fatigue Resistance and Self-Rated Health in Workers with Chronic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is widespread in the working population and leads to muscular fatigue, reduced work capacity, and fear of movement. While ergonomic intervention is the traditional approach to the problem, physical exercise may be an alternative strategy. This secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial investigates the effect of strength training on muscular fatigue resistance and self-rated health among workers with chronic pain. Sixty-six slaughterhouse workers with chronic upper limb pain and work disability were randomly allocated to 10 weeks of strength training or usual care ergonomic training (control). At baseline and follow-up, participants performed a handgrip muscular fatigue test (time above 50% of maximal voluntary contraction force) with simultaneous recording of electromyography. Additionally, participants replied to a questionnaire regarding self-rated health and pain. Time to fatigue, muscle strength, hand/wrist pain, and self-rated health improved significantly more following strength training than usual care (all P < 0.05). Time to fatigue increased by 97% following strength training and this change was correlated to the reduction in fear avoidance (Spearman's rho = −0.40; P = 0.01). In conclusion, specific strength training improves muscular fatigue resistance and self-rated health and reduces pain of the hand/wrist in manual workers with chronic upper limb pain. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01671267.

Physical exercise at the workplace prevents deterioration of work ability among healthcare workers: cluster randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Imbalance between individual resources and work demands can lead to musculoskeletal disorders and reduced work ability. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of workplace- versus home-based physical exercise on work ability among healthcare workers.

METHODS

Two hundred female healthcare workers (Age: 42.0, BMI: 24.1, work ability index [WAI]: 43.1) from 18 departments at three Danish hospitals participated (Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug 2013-Jan 2014). Participants were randomly allocated at the cluster level to 10 weeks of: 1) workplace physical exercise (WORK) performed during working hours for 5x10 min per week and up to 5 group-based coaching sessions on motivation for regular physical exercise, or 2) home-based physical exercise (HOME) performed during leisure time for 5x10 min per week. Both groups received ergonomic counseling on patient handling and use of lifting aides. The main outcome measure was the change from baseline to 10-week follow-up in WAI.

RESULTS

Significant group by time interaction was observed for WAI (p < 0.05). WAI at follow-up was 1.1 (0.3 to 1.8) higher in WORK compared with HOME corresponding to a small effect size (Cohens'd = 0.24). Within-group changes indicated that between-group differences were mainly caused by a reduction in WAI in HOME. Of the seven items of WAI, item 2 (work ability in relation to the demands of the job) and item 5 (sickness absence during the past year) were improved in WORK compared with HOME (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Performing physical exercise together with colleagues at the workplace prevents deterioration of work ability among female healthcare workers.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01921764 . Registered 10 August 2013.

Bi-directional associations between psychological arousal, cortisol, and sleep

The aim was to elucidate the possible bi-directional relation between daytime psychological arousal, cortisol, and self-reported sleep in a group of healthy employees in active employment. Logbook ratings of sleep (Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire), stress, and energy, as well as positive and negative experiences in work and private life, were collected together with salivary cortisol over 3 days (n = 265). Higher bedtime ratings of stress and problems during the day were associated with morning ratings of poor sleep. Poorer morning ratings of sleep were associated with higher ratings of stress and problems during the day. The results underpin the possibility that arousal and poor sleep might create a self-reinforcing vicious circle that negatively affects a person's well-being.