Relations among perceived stress, fatigue, and sleepiness, and their effects on the ambulatory arterial stiffness index in medical staff: A cross-sectional study

Xiaorong Lang; Quan Wang; Sufang Huang; Danni Feng; Fengfei Ding; Wei Wang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1010647

Relations among perceived stress, fatigue, and sleepiness, and their effects on the ambulatory arterial stiffness index in medical staff: A cross-sectional study

Front Psychol. 2022 Oct 28:13:1010647. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1010647. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiaorong Lang^{1

2}, Quan Wang^{1

2}, Sufang Huang², Danni Feng¹, Fengfei Ding³, Wei Wang²

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Tongji Hospital Affiliated with Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Tongji Hospital Affiliated with Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Pharmacology, Fudan University Basic Medicine College, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relations among perceived stress, fatigue, sleepiness, and the pathway of their effects on the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) among medical staff.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Wuhan, China. Perceived stress, fatigue, and sleepiness were measured using the perceived stress scale (PSS), Fatigue assessment scale (FAS), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), respectively. AASI was obtained from 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Path analysis was used to clarify the relations among the PSS, FAS, and ESS scores, and their relations to AASI values.

Results: A total of 153 participants were included herein. The PSS and FAS correlated with the ESS (r = 0.424, p < 0.001), and the PSS correlated with the FAS (r = 0.614, p < 0.001). In addition, the ESS correlated with the AASI (r = 0.225, p = 0.005). According to the path analysis results, the PSS and FAS had no direct effect on the AASI, but did have an indirect effect on this index (β = 0.059, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.017-0.128, p = 0.005; β = 0.059, 95%CI = 0.016-0.135, p = 0.006, respectively) by influencing the ESS (β = 0.263, β = 0.262, p = 0.004).

Conclusion: Sleepiness was a mediator of the effects of perceived stress and fatigue on AASI.

Keywords: ambulatory arterial stiffness index; fatigue; medical staff; path analysis; perceived stress; sleepiness.