Journal of Occupational
Health and Epidemiology
Rafsanjan university Of medical sciences
Volume 6, Issue 4 (Autumn 2017)
J Occup Health Epidemiol 2017, 6(4): 184-189 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Laal F, Jafari M, Noorizadeh N, Fallah Madvari R, Rahimi E, Ahmadi E. Mental workload and affecting factors among firefighters in Tehran, Iran, in 2017. J Occup Health Epidemiol 2017; 6 (4) :184-189
URL: http://johe.rums.ac.ir/article-1-260-en.html
URL: http://johe.rums.ac.ir/article-1-260-en.html
Related article in
Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Similar articles
1- Student Research Committee, Dept. of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2- Dept. of Occupational Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ,Jafari1952@yahoo.com
3- Dept. of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4- Dept. of Occupational Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
5- Dept. of Public Health, Mamasani Higher Education Complex for Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
6- Birjand University, Birjand, Iran
2- Dept. of Occupational Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ,
3- Dept. of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4- Dept. of Occupational Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
5- Dept. of Public Health, Mamasani Higher Education Complex for Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
6- Birjand University, Birjand, Iran
Article history
Received: 2017/07/30
Accepted: 2017/11/20
ePublished: 2018/01/8
Accepted: 2017/11/20
ePublished: 2018/01/8
Subject:
Occupational Health
Abstract: (7645 Views)
Background: Firefighting and rescue require high physical and psychological needs under unpredictable and dangerous conditions. Thus, this study aimed to investigate mental workload and affecting factors in firefighters.
Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study which was conducted on 250 firefighters of Tehran, Iran. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) survey was used in order to evaluate the mental load among firefighters. This tool evaluates mental workload in 6 areas of mental need, physical need, time pressure, endeavor level, performance (efficiency) and disappointment level. Each area is investigated with a scale from zero to 100. Finally, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test and linear regression.
Results: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of age in firefighters was 32.20 ± 4.54 years. The physical load dimension (93.48 ± 8.93) had highest value and disappointment and failure feeling (25.85 ± 23.38) had the lowest value in terms of mental workload. Association with educational level and the physical load was direct and significant (P = 0.035). None of the demographic variables including age, working history, educational level, marital status, as well as being smoker had an impact on total mental workload (P > 0.050).
Conclusions: Overall mental workload was high in firefighters which can influence working efficiency and increase errors in this occupational group. Hence, implementing effective programs for adjusting mental workload such as ergonomic and psychological interventions are recommended for reducing mental and psychological errors and stress.
Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study which was conducted on 250 firefighters of Tehran, Iran. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) survey was used in order to evaluate the mental load among firefighters. This tool evaluates mental workload in 6 areas of mental need, physical need, time pressure, endeavor level, performance (efficiency) and disappointment level. Each area is investigated with a scale from zero to 100. Finally, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test and linear regression.
Results: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of age in firefighters was 32.20 ± 4.54 years. The physical load dimension (93.48 ± 8.93) had highest value and disappointment and failure feeling (25.85 ± 23.38) had the lowest value in terms of mental workload. Association with educational level and the physical load was direct and significant (P = 0.035). None of the demographic variables including age, working history, educational level, marital status, as well as being smoker had an impact on total mental workload (P > 0.050).
Conclusions: Overall mental workload was high in firefighters which can influence working efficiency and increase errors in this occupational group. Hence, implementing effective programs for adjusting mental workload such as ergonomic and psychological interventions are recommended for reducing mental and psychological errors and stress.
Keywords: Workload [MeSH], Firefighters [MeSH], National Aeronautics and Space Administration [MeSH]
References
2. Kiss P, Walgraeve M, Vanhoorne M. Assessment of work ability in aging fire fighters by means of the Work Ability Index: preliminary results. Arch Public Health 2002; 60:233-44. [Article]
3. Cao A, Chintamani KK, Pandya AK, Ellis RD. NASA TLX: software for assessing subjective mental workload. Behav Res Methods 2009; 41(1):113-7. [DOI] [PubMed]
4. Safari Sh, Mohammadi Bolbanabad H, Kazemi M. Evaluation of mental load of work in nurses of intensive care unit using burden of mind index (NASA). Journal of Health System Research 2013; 9(6):613-9.
5. Alavinia SM, Hosseini SH. Work ability index, an important tool in occupational health and medicine to define workers at risk for early exit from work force. Journal of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences 2011; 3(2):49-53. [Article] [DOI]
6. Burton WN, Conti DJ, Chen CY, Schultz AB, Edington DW. The role of health risk factors and disease on worker productivity. J Occup Environ Med 1999; 41(10):863-77. [DOI] [PubMed]
7. Malekpour F, Mohammadian Y, Malekpour AR, Mohammadpour Y, Sheikh Ahmadi A, Shakarami A. Assessment of mental workload in nursing by using NASA-TLX. Journal of Urmia Nursing and Midwifery Faculty 2014; 11(11):892-99. [Article]
8. Weinger, MB, Reddy SB, Slagle JM. Multiple measures of anesthesia workload during teaching and nonteaching cases. Anesth Analg 2004; 98(5):1419-25. [DOI] [PubMed]
9. Rothengatter T, de Bruin RA, Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen. Verkeerskundig Studiecentrum. Road users and traffic safety. 1st ed. Assen/ Maastricht, Netherlands: Van Gorcum & Comp BV; 1987. [Book]
10. Malekpour F, Mohammadian Y, Mohamadpour Y, Fazli B, Hassanloei B. Assessmen of relationship between quality of life and mental workload among nurses of Urmia Medical Science University hospitals. Journal of Urmia Nursing and Midwifery Faculty 2014; 12(6):499-505. [Article]
11. Bridger RS, Bennett AI. Age and BMI interact to determine work ability in seafarers. Occup Med (Lond) 2011; 61(3):157-62. [DOI] [PubMed]
12. Hart SG. Nasa-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX); 20 years later. Proc Hum Factors Ergon Soc Annu Meet 2006; 50(9):904-8. [Article] [DOI]
13. Mohammadi M, Mazloumi A, Nasl Saraji J, Zeraati H. Designing questionnaire of assessing mental workload and determine its validity and reliability among ICUs nurses in one of the TUMS’s hospitals. Journal of School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research 2013; 11(2):87-96. [Article]
14. Zakerian SA, Abbasinia M, Mohammadian F, Fathi A, Rahmani A, Ahmadnezhad I, et al. The relationship between workload and quality of life among hospital staffs. Journal of Ergonomics 2013; 1(1):43-56. [Article]
15. Zamanian Z, Roshan Sarvestani M, Sedaghati M, Ghatmiri M, Kouhnavard B. Assessment of the relation between subjective workload and job satisfaction in university faculty and staff. Journal of Ergonomics 2016; 3(4):1-10. [Article]
16. Loveridege C. Nursing management in the new paradigm. 1st ed. Silver Spring, Maryland, United States: Aspen; 1996. P.204. [Book]
17. Haghi A, Rajabi H, Habibi A, Zeinodini M. Evaluation of mental workload on complex missions emergency personnel NASA-TLX. Occupational Medicine Quarterly Journal 2016; 7(3):37-45. [Article]
18. Hoonakker P, Carayon P, Gurses A, Brown R, McGuire K, Khunlertkit A, et al. Measuring workload of ICU nurses with a questionnaire survey: the NASA Task Load Index (TLX). IIE Trans Healthc Syst Eng 2011; 1(2):131-43. [DOI] [PubMed]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
