Mental Fatigue: A Public Health Concern?

Jessica W. Chow

Department of Exercise Science, St.Thomas Aquinas College, School of Arts and Sciences, Sparkill, NY 10976, USAUnited States

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17140/semoj-4-153 · Published 2018-03-23 · Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 · © 2018 The Author(s)

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SPORTS AND EXERCISE MEDICINE Open Journal ISSN 2379-6391 PUBLISHERS Mental Fatigue: A Public Health Concern?

Jessica W. Chow, PhD* Department of Exercise Science, St. Thomas Aquinas College, School of Arts and Sciences, Sparkill, NY 10976, USA *Corresponding author Jessica W. Chow, PhD Assistant Professor of Exercise Science, St. Thomas Aquinas College, School of Arts and Sciences, Sparkill, NY 10976, USA; E-mail: jchow@stac.edu Article information Received: March 2nd, 2018; Revised: March 22nd, 2018; Accepted: March 23rd, 2018; Published: March 23rd, 2018 Cite this article Chow JW. Mental fatigue: A public health concern? Sport Exerc Med Open J. 2018; 4(1): 1-2. doi: 10.17140/SEMOJ-4-153 Commentary Copyright 2018 by Chow JW. This is an open-access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and reproduce in any medium or format, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited. 1Commentary | Volume 4 | Number 1 | cc I n our current societal state of rapid technological advancement, we are constantly being exposed to various mediums of infor - mation. Obtaining information is just a matter of a few taps away on one’s phone. The ease in accessing information has its benefits and shortfalls. While the ease in acquiring information is an obvi- ous advantage, the downside though, is the fatigue associated with the constant processing of information on a daily basis. Adding on the multitude of responsibilities that everyone has while including the balancing of personal and professional obligations, the symp - toms of mental fatigue is perhaps more prevalent than those asso- ciated with physical fatigue where symptoms are visible to identify and perceive.

Mental fatigue is characterized with subjective feelings of “tiredness” and “lack of energy”. This psychobiological state has been extensively researched on professions where cognitive demand is very high, such as drivers and air pilots1,2 and its contri- bution to the development of work-related musculoskeletal disor- ders.3 It has been reported that in the United States, approximately 29% of adults reported sleeping less than 7 hours per night4 and an estimated 70 million suffer from a sleep disorder or chronic sleep deprivation5 with similar subjective consequential symptoms.6 In a study by The Pulse Institute (2014), where employees from three U.S. based companies were surveyed, 76% of employees felt tired most days of the week, 40% doze off during the day once per month, 30% were unhappy or very unhappy with the quality or quantity of their sleep, and 15% reported to doze off during the day at least once per week to once per day.7 The impact of mental fatigue on workplace productivity is just one spectrum of recent research. The effects on subsequent physical performance in humans has been researched in various populations as well, such as professional road cyclists, soccer play- ers, and intermittent team sport athletes.8-10 Dating back to as early as 1891, Angelo Mosso published observations of reduced mus - cular endurance in two physiology professors following long lec - tures and examinations.11 Presently, there is surmounting body of evidence reflecting changes in neural function related to reaction time, concentration, endurance performance, and in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.12-17 It has been reported that people who are mentally fa- tigued reported greater difficulty maintaining concentration and a reduced ability to complete tasks and vigorous exercise due to loss of motivation and tolerance to physical fatigue related symp - toms.18-20 It is well documented that driving and sleep deprivation, alternatively known as drowsy driving, has a crucial role to traffic accidents.21 Similar deprivations in exercise physiological responses have also been observed.22 This raises the need for further research to elucidate the role of mental fatigue induced by excessive information processing enabled by the advancement of technology and its role on society’s overall well being. Populations of interest may include, but not lim- ited to the clinical population of various chronic diseases, children, adolescence, athletes of various skill levels and sports, and occupa- tions that are subjected to prolonged cognitive activity.

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