A wearable biosensor may help to assess stress that healthcare professionals experience, says a study published in Physiological Reports. The study is based on the experience of 12 healthy male volunteers.
For the study, wearable biosensors placed on the chest, which provided an accurate assessment of physiological indices- respiration rate and heart rate–used to calculate stress. Besides, the metrics of the biosensors correlated strongly to assessment obtained using breathing analyses. It could distinguish changes associated with stress and the ones associated with increased physical activity.
Current Tools inadequate to Assess Healthcare Worker’s Stress
Meanwhile, a high prevalence of stress and burnout is reported among healthcare professionals. Nonetheless, the current tools used to measure such metrics such as smart watches or questionnaire do not portray true picture of doctor’s busy lifestyles and do not align with infection prevention policies.
Given the amount of stress healthcare professionals undertake, it can subsequently have an impact on the healthcare professional as well as on patient care. To measure this, experts say, biosensor used in the study is a useful instrument to observeand manage stress that healthcare professional experience.
