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Development and validation of an assessment index for quantifying cognitive task load in pilots under simulated flight conditions using heart rate variability and principal component analysis.

To investigate whether high cognitive task load (CTL) for aircraft pilots can be identified by analysing heart-rate variability, electrocardiograms were recorded while cadet pilots (n = 68) performed the plane tracking, anti-gravity pedalling, and reaction tasks during simulated flight missions. Dat...

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Published in:Ergonomics Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 515 - 526
Main Authors: Yang, Jinghua, Tang, Mengjun, Cong, Lin, Sun, Jicheng, Guo, Dalong, Zhang, Taihui, Xiong, Kaiwen, Wang, Li, Cheng, Shan, Ma, Jin, Hu, Wendong
Format: equations & formulas pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Apr2024
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2024
      vid: 67
      iid: 4
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/00140139.2023.2229075
        176495265
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        atl: Development and validation of an assessment index for quantifying cognitive task load in pilots under simulated flight conditions using heart rate variability and principal component analysis.
      aug:
        au:
          Yang, Jinghua
          Tang, Mengjun
          Cong, Lin
          Sun, Jicheng
          Guo, Dalong
          Zhang, Taihui
          Xiong, Kaiwen
          Wang, Li
          Cheng, Shan
          Ma, Jin
          Hu, Wendong
        affil: Department of Aerospace Medical Equipment, School of Aerospace Medicine, Air Force Medical University, Xian, China
      sug:
        subj:
          Instrument Construction
          Instrument Validation
          Heart Rate Variability
          Aircraft
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Pilots
          Electrocardiography Methods
          Clinical Assessment Tools
          Cognition
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Validation Studies
          Factor Analysis
          Descriptive Statistics
          Comparative Studies
          Data Analysis Software
          Analysis of Variance
          Funding Source
          China
          Ergonomics
          Male
          Female
      ab: To investigate whether high cognitive task load (CTL) for aircraft pilots can be identified by analysing heart-rate variability, electrocardiograms were recorded while cadet pilots (n = 68) performed the plane tracking, anti-gravity pedalling, and reaction tasks during simulated flight missions. Data for standard electrocardiogram parameters were extracted from the R–R-interval series. In the research phase, low frequency power (LF), high frequency power (HF), normalised HF, and LF/HF differed significantly between high and low CTL conditions (p <.05 for all). A principal component analysis identified three components contributing 90.62% of cumulative heart-rate variance. These principal components were incorporated into a composite index. Validation in a separate group of cadet pilots (n = 139) under similar conditions showed that the index value significantly increased with increasing CTL (p <.05). The heart-rate variability index can be used to objectively identify high CTL flight conditions. Practitioner summary: We used principal component analysis of electrocardiogram data to construct a composite index for identifying high cognitive task load in pilots during simulated flight. We validated the index in a separate group of pilots under similar conditions. The index can be used to improve cadet training and flight safety. Abbreviations: ANOVA: a one-way analysis of variance; AP: anti-gravity pedaling task; CTL: cognitive task load; ECG: electrocardiograms; HR: heart rate; HRV: heart-rate variability; HRVI: heart-rate variability index; PT: plane-tracking task; RMSSD: root-mean square of differences between consecutive R–R intervals; RT: reaction task; SDNN: standard deviation of R-R intervals; HF: high frequency power; HFnu: normalized HF; LF: low frequency power; LFnu: normalized LF; PCA: principal component analysis.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        equations & formulas
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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