Physiological reaction to workload in women performing manual or mental work

The aim of our study was to evaluate the reaction of the circulatory system on work with various levels of physical and mental load. The examinations were carried out at a department store in two groups of women: 20 cashiers (mental work) and 53 saleswomen (physical work). There were no statistically significant differences in age, duration of employment or physical fitness between those groups. Work at this department store was performed on a two-shift system with irregular rotations. The psychic load was evaluated as a relation between subjective estimation of work demands and the ability to cope with them. Physical effort was measured as an energy expenditure during work. Cardiovascular reaction was expressed by heart rate during work, leisure time and sleep estimated according to the 24-hour Holter monitoring method. No statistically significant differences in heart rate were found to exist between cashiers and saleswomen. This, taking into account the much higher energy expenditure in saleswomen, suggests that mental effort is likely to affect heart rate. In fact, mean values of subjective assessment of work demands in cashiers were much higher (5.1) than in saleswomen (4.4), unlike the evaluation of the ability to cope with them, which points to the occurrence of a significant psychic load in the work of cashiers. A lower difference between maximum and minimum frequencies of heart rate in cashiers in comparison with saleswomen confirmed this observation, although it might have resulted from different levels of physical activity during work.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)