Key result
Driving induced an acute stress response with elevated HR and reduced HRV, while prior exercise yielded mixed results including increased cardiovascular measures and a trend toward decreased cortisol.
Why the study?
Does a prior exercise bout dampen the acute stress response to driving in healthy adults?
Does a prior exercise bout dampen the acute stress response to driving in healthy adults?
Driving induces an acute stress response, but a prior exercise bout does not clearly mitigate this response and may further alter cardiovascular measures.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Prior exercise does not clearly mitigate driving stress; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
Driving may be detrimental to health, with one hypothesis suggesting that driving may elicit an acute stress response and, with repeated exposures, may become a chronic stressor. The present study examined the stress response to driving and the effectiveness of a prior exercise bout in dampening this response. Twenty healthy adults performed three tasks: control, driving and exercise plus driving. Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP) and cortisol were measured to quantify the acute stress response to each condition. Data indicated a stress response to driving: HR was elevated and HRV was reduced during the driving task compared with control. HR was elevated and HRV was reduced comparing the exercise plus driving with the driving condition. BP and cortisol were not different among conditions. The potential of interventions, such as exercise, to counter daily stressors should be evaluated to safeguard long-term health. Practitioner Summary: this study confirms that driving induces a stress response, with the exercise intervention providing mixed results (an increase in cardiovascular measures and a decrease in cortisol measure trending significance). Given the known consequences of stress and evidence that exercise can mitigate acute stress, further evaluation of exercise interventions is recommended.
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Antoun et al. (2018) studied Healthy (n=20). Exercise prior to driving vs. Driving without prior exercise and control was evaluated on Acute stress response quantified by heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP), and cortisol. Driving induced an acute stress response with elevated HR and reduced HRV, while prior exercise yielded mixed results including increased cardiovascular measures and a trend toward decreased cortisol.
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