Occupational Burnout Is Linked with Inefficient Executive Functioning, Elevated Average Heart Rate, and Decreased Physical Activity in Daily Life : Initial Evidence from Teaching Professionals
Pihlaja, Mia; Tuominen, Pipsa; Peräkylä, Jari; Hartikainen, Kaisa (2022)
Pihlaja, Mia
Tuominen, Pipsa
Peräkylä, Jari
Hartikainen, Kaisa
MDPI AG
2022
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022121672084
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022121672084
Tiivistelmä
Burnout is becoming a global pandemic jeopardizing brain health, with a huge impact
on quality of life, available workforce, and the economy. Knowledge of the impact of burnout on
cognition, physiology, and physical activity (PA) in daily life allows for an improved understanding of
the health consequences and everyday ramifications of burnout. Twenty-eight volunteers participated
in a three-day recording of daily physiology and PA, including heart rate (HR) and daily steps, with
a wearable device. They filled in questionnaires screening for burnout (BBI-15), depression (BDI),
and executive functions (EFs) in daily life (BRIEF-A). The subjects with burnout had more challenges
in EFs, higher average HRs and lower numbers of steps in daily life than those without it. The BBI-15
scores correlated positively with the BDI scores and BRIEF-A indices and negatively with the awake
HR variability (HRV) and daily steps. The metacognition index correlated negatively with the HRV. In
conclusion, burnout is linked with compromised EFs along with alterations in cardiac physiology and
PA in daily life. Such alterations may be easily detected with wearable devices, opening possibilities
for novel biomarkers of burnout and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We suggest that physical
activity and heart and brain health are intimately intertwined and that burnout interacts with each of
them bidirectionally.
on quality of life, available workforce, and the economy. Knowledge of the impact of burnout on
cognition, physiology, and physical activity (PA) in daily life allows for an improved understanding of
the health consequences and everyday ramifications of burnout. Twenty-eight volunteers participated
in a three-day recording of daily physiology and PA, including heart rate (HR) and daily steps, with
a wearable device. They filled in questionnaires screening for burnout (BBI-15), depression (BDI),
and executive functions (EFs) in daily life (BRIEF-A). The subjects with burnout had more challenges
in EFs, higher average HRs and lower numbers of steps in daily life than those without it. The BBI-15
scores correlated positively with the BDI scores and BRIEF-A indices and negatively with the awake
HR variability (HRV) and daily steps. The metacognition index correlated negatively with the HRV. In
conclusion, burnout is linked with compromised EFs along with alterations in cardiac physiology and
PA in daily life. Such alterations may be easily detected with wearable devices, opening possibilities
for novel biomarkers of burnout and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We suggest that physical
activity and heart and brain health are intimately intertwined and that burnout interacts with each of
them bidirectionally.