1. Feasibility of remote blood pressure estimation via narrow-band multi-wavelength pulse transit timeGašper Slapničar, Wenjin Wang, Mitja Luštrek, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Contact-free sensing gained much traction in the past decade. While remote monitoring of some parameters (heart rate) is approaching clinical levels of precision, others remain challenging (blood pressure). We investigated the feasibility of estimating blood pressure (BP) via pulse transit time (PTT) in a novel remote single-site manner, using a modified RGB camera. A narrow-band triple band-pass filter allowed us to measure the PTT between different skin layers, harvesting information from green and near-infrared wavelengths. The filter minimizes the inter-channel influence and band overlap, however some overlap remains within the filter bands. We further resolve this using a color-channel model and a novel channel-separation method. Using the proposed setup and algorithm, we obtained multi-wavelength (MW) PTTs in an experiment inducing BP changes to 9 subjects. The results showed good absolute Pearson’s correlation coefficient between both MW PTT and systolic BP (R = 0.61, p = 0.08) as well as diastolic BP (R = 0.54, p = 0.05), pointing to feasibility of the proposed novel remote MW BP estimation via PTT. This was further confirmed in a leave-one-subject-out experiment, where a simple Random Forest regression model achieved mean absolute errors of 3.59 and 2.63 mmHg for systolic and diastolic BP respectively.
Published in DiRROS: 27.07.2023; Views: 198; Downloads: 90
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2. The association between day-to-day stress experiences, recovery, and work engagement among office workers in academia : an Ecological Momentary Assessment studyLarissa Bolliger, Ellen Baele, Elena Colman, Gillian Debra, Junoš Lukan, Mitja Luštrek, Dirk De Bacquer, Els Clays, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Objectives. This study aimed to investigate the associations between day-to-day work-related stress exposures (i.e., job demands and lack of job control), job strain, and next-day work engagement among office workers in academic settings. Additionally, we assessed the influence of psychological detachment and relaxation on next-day work engagement and tested for interaction effects of these recovery variables on the relationship between work-related stressors and next-day work engagement. Methods. Office workers from two academic settings in Belgium and Slovenia were recruited. This study is based on an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) with a 15-working day data collection period using our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. Participants were asked repeatedly about their work-related stressors, work engagement, and recovery experiences. Fixed-effect model testing using random intercepts was applied to investigate within- and between-participant levels. Results. Our sample consisted of 55 participants and 2710 item measurements were analysed. A significant positive association was found between job control and next-day work engagement (β = 0.28, p < 0.001). Further, a significant negative association was found between job strain and next-day work engagement (β = −0.32, p = 0.05). Furthermore, relaxation was negatively associated with work engagement (β = −0.08, p = 0.03). Conclusions. This study confirmed previous results, such as higher job control being associated with higher work engagement and higher job strain predicting lower work engagement. An interesting result was the association of higher relaxation after the working day with a lower next-day work engagement. Further research investigating fluctuations in work-related stressors, work engagement, and recovery experiences is required.
Keywords: work-related stress, stress exposure, work engagement, office workers, academia
Published in DiRROS: 04.05.2023; Views: 200; Downloads: 83
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3. How well did the healthcare system respond to the healthcare needs of older people with and without dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic : the perception of healthcare providers and older people from the SI4CARE Project in the ADRION RegionStella Fragkiadaki, Dionysia Kontaxopolou, Darja Šemrov, Simon Colnar, Mitja Luštrek, Bojan Blažica, Vlado Dimovski, Sokratis G. Papageorgiou, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: One major challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic was the limited accessibility to healthcare facilities, especially for the older population. The aim of the current study was the exploration of the extent to which the healthcare systems responded to the healthcare needs of the older people with or without cognitive impairment and their caregivers in the Adrion/Ionian region. Data were collected through e-questionnaires regarding the adequacy of the healthcare system and were anonymously administered to older individuals and stakeholder providers in the following countries: Slovenia, Italy (Calabria), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia. Overall, 722 older people and 267 healthcare stakeholders participated in the study. During the COVID-19 pandemic, both healthcare stakeholders and the older population claimed that the healthcare needs of the older people and their caregivers increased dramatically in all countries, especially in Italy (Calabria), Croatia and BiH. According to our results, countries from the Adrion/Ionian regions faced significant challenges to adjust to the special needs of the older people during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was possibly due to limited accessibility opportunities to healthcare facilities. These results highlight the need for the development of alternative ways of providing medical assistance and supervision when in-person care is not possible.
Keywords: healthcare system responses, COVID-19 pandemic, older people, cognitive impairment, dementia, caregivers, telemedicine, healthcare challenges, accessibility, Slovenia, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Montenegro
Published in DiRROS: 01.02.2023; Views: 410; Downloads: 173
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