The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers

This paper looks at the possibility of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs). Air Traffic Control (ATC) service requires constant good planning, situation awareness, and always making sound decisions. A study was conducted on two ATCOs for three c...

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Published in:Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Mechanics
Main Author: Rahman S.M.B.A.; Saini M.H.; Jaafar S.A.I.; Mustafa A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Semarak Ilmu Publishing 2025
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85209106700&doi=10.37934%2faram.126.1.112122&partnerID=40&md5=5dc770e2b23b7fdf012caaaf5f27560b
id 2-s2.0-85209106700
spelling 2-s2.0-85209106700
Rahman S.M.B.A.; Saini M.H.; Jaafar S.A.I.; Mustafa A.
The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
2025
Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Mechanics
126
1
10.37934/aram.126.1.112122
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85209106700&doi=10.37934%2faram.126.1.112122&partnerID=40&md5=5dc770e2b23b7fdf012caaaf5f27560b
This paper looks at the possibility of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs). Air Traffic Control (ATC) service requires constant good planning, situation awareness, and always making sound decisions. A study was conducted on two ATCOs for three complete work cycles: the morning shift from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the afternoon shift from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., and the night shift from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. Both participants have different roles, with Subject A being a planner controller while Subject B is a radar controller. The study used the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) survey to collect the subjective workload rating and a heart rate monitor armband to measure the heart rate reading of an ATCO and then compare it with the number of aircraft within the controlled area. Two hypotheses were investigated: the first one is the relationship between the number of traffic and heart rate readings, and the second hypothesis is the relationship between the elapsed working time and heart rate reading. The Spearman correlation test has been used to determine these relationships. Based on the results, a p-value of less than 0.05 and a positive correlation indicates a significant relationship between the number of aircraft and heart rate readings for both subjects. Elapsed time and heart rate measurement, on the other hand, do not significantly correlate with a p-value greater than 0.05 and a negative correlation was produced for both subjects. The unweighted NASA-TLX workload measure confirmed the findings for Subject A but not for Subject B. This might be due to the different roles carried out by both subjects during the experiment. This shows that different work tasks resulted in different workload-induced factors. The results show a promising outcome of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among ATCOs. However, more subjects were needed to enable the use of this concept for future purposes of measuring ATCO stress levels to manage workload. © 2025, Semarak Ilmu Publishing. All rights reserved.
Semarak Ilmu Publishing
22897895
English
Article

author Rahman S.M.B.A.; Saini M.H.; Jaafar S.A.I.; Mustafa A.
spellingShingle Rahman S.M.B.A.; Saini M.H.; Jaafar S.A.I.; Mustafa A.
The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
author_facet Rahman S.M.B.A.; Saini M.H.; Jaafar S.A.I.; Mustafa A.
author_sort Rahman S.M.B.A.; Saini M.H.; Jaafar S.A.I.; Mustafa A.
title The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
title_short The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
title_full The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
title_fullStr The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
title_full_unstemmed The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
title_sort The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers
publishDate 2025
container_title Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Mechanics
container_volume 126
container_issue 1
doi_str_mv 10.37934/aram.126.1.112122
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85209106700&doi=10.37934%2faram.126.1.112122&partnerID=40&md5=5dc770e2b23b7fdf012caaaf5f27560b
description This paper looks at the possibility of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs). Air Traffic Control (ATC) service requires constant good planning, situation awareness, and always making sound decisions. A study was conducted on two ATCOs for three complete work cycles: the morning shift from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the afternoon shift from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., and the night shift from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. Both participants have different roles, with Subject A being a planner controller while Subject B is a radar controller. The study used the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) survey to collect the subjective workload rating and a heart rate monitor armband to measure the heart rate reading of an ATCO and then compare it with the number of aircraft within the controlled area. Two hypotheses were investigated: the first one is the relationship between the number of traffic and heart rate readings, and the second hypothesis is the relationship between the elapsed working time and heart rate reading. The Spearman correlation test has been used to determine these relationships. Based on the results, a p-value of less than 0.05 and a positive correlation indicates a significant relationship between the number of aircraft and heart rate readings for both subjects. Elapsed time and heart rate measurement, on the other hand, do not significantly correlate with a p-value greater than 0.05 and a negative correlation was produced for both subjects. The unweighted NASA-TLX workload measure confirmed the findings for Subject A but not for Subject B. This might be due to the different roles carried out by both subjects during the experiment. This shows that different work tasks resulted in different workload-induced factors. The results show a promising outcome of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among ATCOs. However, more subjects were needed to enable the use of this concept for future purposes of measuring ATCO stress levels to manage workload. © 2025, Semarak Ilmu Publishing. All rights reserved.
publisher Semarak Ilmu Publishing
issn 22897895
language English
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