The acute physiological stress response to driving: A systematic review

<div><p>Background</p><p>The experience of driving has been suggested to be detrimental to health. One hypothesis is that each exposure elicits an acute stress response, and that repeated exposures may act as a chronic stressor.</p><p>Objective</p><p>The aim of this review is to evaluate and synthesise the evidence on whether driving elicits an acute physiological stress response.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Electronic databases, including CINAHL, PsycINFO and Medline, were searched for original articles written in English from database inception until March 2016. The inclusion criteria of this review included a quantitative examination of an acute physiological stress response to driving, in either on-road or simulated settings, compared to a comparison or control condition. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting criteria.</p><p>Results</p><p>A total of 27,295 abstracts were screened and 28 full-text manuscripts retrieved. Of these, seven articles met the inclusion criteria including four simulator studies and three on-road studies. All suggested a significant change in at least one physiological outcome, but the strongest evidence was for increases in urine catecholamine and cortisol after driving for long hours on-road; results on other outcomes are limited by the small number of studies or inconsistent findings.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Overall, these studies provided moderate evidence to suggest that driving for long hours elicits a stress response over an extended period of time. There is insufficient evidence that driving for a shorter period of time elicits an acute stress response, especially in real, on-road tasks. However, the limited number of studies, small sample sizes, heterogeneity in study objectives, methodologies and physiological outcomes limit conclusions. Future studies could be improved by recruiting a larger sample, utilizing modern stress markers such as heart rate variability, and primarily focusing on the acute physiological stress response to on-road driving.</p></div

Summary of the physiological outcomes measured in the included studies.

<p>Summary of the physiological outcomes measured in the included studies.</p

Summary of included studies that assess the acute physiological changes in response to either on-road or simulated driving.

<p>Summary of included studies that assess the acute physiological changes in response to either on-road or simulated driving.</p

Acute stress response pathways.

<p>Abbreviations: ACTH = Adrenocorticotropic hormone; BP = blood pressure; CRF = Corticotropin releasing factor; SNS = sympathetic nervous system; TPR = total peripheral resistance.</p

Expectations for dog ownership: Perceived physical, mental and psychosocial health consequences among prospective adopters

<div><p>Dog ownership is popular worldwide, with most human-dog dyads forming successful attachment bonds. However, millions of dogs are surrendered to animal shelters annually, possibly due to mismatches between owner expectations and the realities of dog ownership. The aim of the current study was to explore the benefits and challenges people expect from dog ownership and how these expectations vary with previous ownership history. An Australian-wide sample of 3465 prospective adopters completed a self-administered online questionnaire about the physical, mental and psychosocial health benefits and challenges they associated with dog ownership. Among the potential benefits, respondents expected increased walking (89%), happiness (89%) and companionship (61%) and decreased stress (74%) and loneliness (61%). Among the challenges, they expected increased responsibility (64%) and dog training (62%). Ownership history influenced respondents’ expectations, with previous/current dog owners having consistently greater odds of expecting benefits and reduced odds of expecting challenges than non-owners. A possible explanation is that previous/current dog owners’ exhibit bias when considering dog ownership by selectively recalling positive experiences from previous ownership. Our findings support the need for education of prospective dog owners to ensure their expectations align with the reality of ownership, based on current scientific evidence.</p></div

Multiple logistic regression describing the associations between dog ownership status and the top four expected physical, mental and social health benefits from dog ownership.

<p>Multiple logistic regression describing the associations between dog ownership status and the top four expected physical, mental and social health benefits from dog ownership.</p

Multiple logistic regression describing the associations between dog ownership status and the expected challenges of dog ownership.

<p>Multiple logistic regression describing the associations between dog ownership status and the expected challenges of dog ownership.</p

Characteristics of total survey sample and expectations for benefits and challenges by previous dog ownership status.

<p>Characteristics of total survey sample and expectations for benefits and challenges by previous dog ownership status.</p