ArticlePLOS mental health2025
Heart rate variability versus visual analog scale for objective and subjective mental fatigue detection: A randomized controlled trial.
Article in PLOS mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Individual Patterns of Heart Rate Variability During Prolonged Cognitive Load with Mental Fatigue Induction.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Mental Fatigue Scale in Turkish Athletes.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Plasma hepcidin level is elevated by water immersion-induced central fatigue via hepatic inflammatory response in male and female rats.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Cognitive Priming During Warmup Enhances Sport and Exercise Performance: A Goldilocks Effect.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Impact of acute mental fatigue on cricket-related performance measures in university level indoor cricket players.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Assessment of autonomic function in patient with COVID-19 and other infectious diseases using a wearable smart band connected to a mobile application.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fatigue is a multidimensional phenomenon. Although psychological tests can be used to evaluate subjective fatigue, an objective measurement of fatigue is needed to evaluate mental, physical, and occupational health and inform appropriate interventions. Heart rate variability (HRV) has emerged as a potential candidate for assessing objective mental fatigue; however, its effectiveness and safety remain inconclusive. To address these, we conducted a single-center, randomized trial to compare the efficacy and safety of HRV with subjective psychological tests for evaluating mental fatigue. Participants aged 20 to 65 years who had received annual health check-ups and had been found to have no health concerns were included in this study. We compared HRV indexes after performing a calculation task with a control group that rested. The primary outcomes were HRV indexes as recorded by wearable electrocardiography after an intervention consisting of a calculation task. Subjective measures (visual analog scale [VAS] for fatigue and Profile of Mood States 2nd Edition [POMS2]) were evaluated as secondary outcomes. One hundred forty participants were randomized into a calculation task and control groups. Participants who performed the calculation task had a lower square root of the mean squared differences between successive RR intervals (RMSSD), absolute power in the high-frequency band, and standard deviation of Poincaré plot. In psychological tests, participants who performed the calculation task demonstrated significantly higher scores on the VAS for fatigue and POMS2. Multiple comparisons of RMSSD from HRV indexes, VAS for fatigue, and total mood disturbance from POMS2 revealed that RMSSD and VAS for fatigue were significant indicators associated with the calculation task. On the other hand, the vectors of HRV indexes and psychological tests differed based on primary component analysis. We identified RMSSD, an objective index, and VAS for fatigue, a subjective index, as significantly related to mental fatigue.
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Registered trials
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