Sex differences in heart rate responses to occupational stress

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of participants.

		Age
Characteristic	Number (%)	Range	Mean
Sex
Female	7 (30)	22–56	30.6
Male	16 (70)	23–42	30.1
Physically Active
Female	2 (29%)	22–26	24
Male	7 (44%)	22–34	27.5
Not Physically Active
Female	5 (71%)	22–56	33.2
Male	9 (56%)	22–43	32.1

Figure 1. Lowest average observed heart rate (HR) during a work shift in subjects. PA = physically active; Not PA = not physically active. Bars are means ± standard deviations of the means. N = 23.

Table 2. Observed HR (BPM) throughout work shift.

	Lowest	Highest	Change	Percent change
Mean (SD) HR in all subjects	83.2 (7.8)	109.1 (11.7)*	25.9 (13.3)	32.1 (18.5)
Mean (SD) HR in females	82.5 (6.2)	114.0 (16.7)**	31.5 (20.1)**	39.5 (27.5)**
Mean (SD) HR in males	83.4 (8.4)	107.1 (8.4)*	23.6 (8.3)	29.1 (12.2)

* p < .05, lowest vs. highest.

** p < .05, lowest vs. highest and females vs. males.

Figure 2. Highest average observed heart rate (HR) during a work shift in subjects. Unpaired t-test revealed that resting HR values (mean = 83.2 BPM ± 7.8) significantly increased (p < .0001) throughout the shift (highest HR mean = 109.1 BPM ± 11.7) in all subjects. Both female (n = 7, p < .0001) and male (n = 16, p < .0001) subjects demonstrated a significant increase in HR. Two-way ANOVA indicated that female subjects demonstrated a significantly elevated highest HR compared with males (p = .03). Physical activity status did not influence the highest HR observed (p = .8). PA = physically active; Not PA = not physically active. Bars are means ± standard deviations of the means.

Figure 3. Average change (A) and percent change (B) in heart rate (HR) during a work shift in subjects. Two-way ANOVA revealed that females had a larger change in HR throughout a work shift compared with males (Figure 3(A), p = .05), however, physical activity status did not modulate this change (p = .94). Females had a larger percent change in HR throughout a work shift compared with males (Figure 3(B), p = .03) while physical activity had no effect (p = .96). PA = physically active; Not PA = not physically active. Bars are means ± standard deviations of the means.