Can Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Be Used as a Biomarker of Thermal Comfort for Mine Workers?

Guoshan Wu, Heqing Liu, Shixian Wu, Guanglei Liu and Caihang Liang
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Guoshan Wu: School of Resource & Environment and Safety Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Heqing Liu: School of Resource & Environment and Safety Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Shixian Wu: School of Resource & Environment and Safety Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Guanglei Liu: School of Resource & Environment and Safety Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Caihang Liang: School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: This study aimed to determine whether heart rate variability (HRV) can express the thermal comfort of mine workers. Eight subjects ran on a treadmill (5.5 km/h) to simulate heavy labor in three kinds of mining environments (22 °C/90%, 26 °C/90%, 30 °C/90%), respectively. Based on the measured electrocardiogram (ECG) data, the HRV of the subjects was calculated. The results showed that the HRV indices changed obviously under different temperature environments. In the neutral and hot environment, except for the LF, TP and LF/HF, there were significant differences in each index. However, there was no significant difference between the cold and neutral environments. The R-R intervals, the very low-frequency power (VLF), pNN20 and SampEN had strong negative correlation with the thermal sensation of people from sitting to work (? < ?0.700). These indices may be used as thermal comfort predictive biomarkers of mine workers.

Keywords: heart rate variability; thermal comfort; mining environment; working body (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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