Study on Prevention of Drowsiness Driving using Electrocardiography(LF/HF) Index

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the index of Electrocardiography(LF/HF) and the occurrence of drowsiness driving while driving in a simulated situation. Participants were 31 undergraduate students with an experience in driving and they participated 30 minutes driving under enough sleep condition and 1 hour under the sleep deprivation condition. The Euro Truck Simulator Ⅱ was used for driving simulation task and ECG and perceived drowsiness of each participants were measured during two driving conditions. Perceived sleepiness recorded by the checklist every 10 minutes and ECG data extracted before and after 15 seconds of every 10 minutes to verify the relationship between two variables. The results showed that the level of perceived sleepiness under sleep deprivation condition was higher than that under the enough sleep condition, and the level of LF/HF under sleep deprivation condition was lower than that under the enough sleep condition. In addition, the result of analysis of repeated measure ANOVA for ECG indicated that authentic sleepiness revealed in 20 minutes after the start of driving under the sleep deprivation condition. However, the result of perceived drowsiness indicated that authentic sleepiness revealed in 30 minutes after the start of driving. These result suggest that the time difference between biological and perceived response on drowsiness may be exist. Finally, the significant negative correlation between the LF/HF level and perceived drowsiness was observed. These findings suggest that ECG(LF/HF) can be an