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Continuous Heart Rate Variability Monitoring in Doctors; Understanding Patterns of Stress and Recovery and Their Relationship With Self-reported Resilience, Burnout and Wellbeing.

Continuous Heart Rate Variability Monitoring in Doctors; Understanding Patterns of Stress and Recovery and Their Relationship With Self-reported Resilience, Burnout and Wellbeing.

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06721312
Acronym
HEART-ED
Enrollment
60
Registered
2024-12-06
Start date
2024-12-09
Completion date
2026-08-31
Last updated
2026-09-09

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Burnout, Burnout Syndrome, Occupational Stress, Stress

Keywords

Heart rate variability, HRV, occupational stress, resilience, fatigue, wellbeing, stress, burnout

Brief summary

Burnout is an increasing concern in the medical professions. This study aims to utilise established, validated self-report measures combined with continuous heart rate variability measurements to better understand the stress and recovery patterns experienced by doctors that may contribute to burnout. This mixed methods study design will consist of an ecological momentary assessment phase where participants will complete commonly used and validated real-time subjective measures while concurrently wearing a heart rate variability monitor to provide an objective measure of stress. Following on from this, participants of interest will be invited to participate in semi structured interviews to further explore their experiences of stress and recovery.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

University of Aberdeen
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Working within NHS Grampian * Access to a smartphone

Exclusion criteria

* Cardiac arrhythmias/endocrine disease. * Prescription beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, benzodiazepines, antidepressants and antianxiety medications. * Insufficient non-working time prior to study commencement.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Heart rate variability7 daysContinuous heart rate variability over 7 day study period

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
BurnoutMeasured on day 1Maslach Burnout Inventory - 22 item scale measuring occupational burnout. Each item asks participants to rank on a scale from never to every day. An overall score is then calculated from the results.
ResilienceMeasured on day 1Resilience Scale for Adults The RSA is a 33-item self-report scale examining intrapersonal and interpersonal factors presumed to assist them to be able to adapt to adversities. Responses are provided via 5-point Likert scale.
WellbeingMeasured on day 1ICOPPE Wellbeing Scale The I-COPPE scale(21) has 6 individual domains of interpersonal, community, occupational, physical, psychological, and economic - all of which have been individually validated against overall wellbeing. The scale asks participants to rate each of the wellbeing domains at three different time points, now, one year previously and one year in the future totalling 21 items.
EMA Measures8 times/day for 7 daysReal-Time Job Demands NASA task load index (NASA TLX) is a multidimensional workload assessment tool. It contains six subscales of mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, and frustration. The overall workload is derived from an average of the six subscales listed. Real-Time Job Resources This is a six-item scale derived from the job-demands resources model of burnout. The items contained within the scale are feedback, rewards, job control, participation, job security and supervisor support. Flow Included is a single item question asking participants "have you felt completely absorbed by a challenging but doable task". Given the paucity of literature understanding what "flow" might mean within this study population and how this may relate to HRV there is a free text box allowing participants to expand on their experience. Fatigue The Rating of Fatigue (ROF) scale(59)is a single-item visual analogue scale.

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Sep 10, 2026