How does urology work? Evaluation of activity trackers in the assessment of workload and stress burden among employees in the Department of Urology of a German University Hospital: A prospective pilot study

Introduction Workload and stress in excess can lead to work disability. The aim of our study was to determine whether commercially available “activity trackers” can be used to make statements about the work – or stress load of different occupational groups. Material and methods The study was conducted at the University Hospital Freiburg, Germany. Four occupational groups with a total of 32 subjects were studied: senior physicians (SP, 4), assistant physicians (AP, 11), nursing staff (NS, 12) and administrative staff (AS, 5). The activity trackers were worn on five working days and one day off. Step frequency, distance and heart rate (HR) were measured, and workload was assessed using a visual analog scale. Results The highest workload was reported by SP, the lowest by AS. Male employees feel higher workload than female employees (p = 0.009). NS covered the greatest daily distance, AP the least (p = 0.001). There was a significant difference in average HF between AP and NS (p = 0.008). AS showed higher daily distance and maximum HF on days off compared to work days, and NS showed the opposite behavior. With increasing patient volume for ambulatory care, the average HF increased (p = 0.037) in NSs. Conclusion “Activity trackers” reliably provide body data during work. In our small sample, interesting differences and results on workload emerged. More data would require more subjects and more study variables.