Humans invariably experience stress in multifarious environments. Due to this stress, various physical, mental and environmental diseases occur, and with the growing general interest in health, the interest in stress is increasing as well. Consequentl...
Humans invariably experience stress in multifarious environments. Due to this stress, various physical, mental and environmental diseases occur, and with the growing general interest in health, the interest in stress is increasing as well. Consequently, this interest has led to a growth in health care systems which make self-measurement possible before you visit a clinic or hospital and which are convenient to use with portable instruments. When measuring stress in hospitals, doctors commonly use SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) to analyze stress measurements, but this program is difficult for lay persons to understand and use. Therefore, for the self-care system, a measurement system that is simple and convenient is required.
Research topics on stress measurement are mainly categorized into psychological and physiological measurements. The most frequently used measurements are psychological, consisting of inquiries about occurrences in everyday life and all the factors that can come into play in any group. The measuring instrument can be easily obtained, thus making the measurement simple. However, since most of the instruments for psychological measurement are made up of questions, the results are strongly subjective. That is why it is difficult to understand the psychological impact of physical stress. On the other hand, in the case of physiological measurement, scientific data can be validated by analyzing physiological signals, thus, making it more scientific and objective. But in the case of physiological measurement, as it is not easy to obtain measurements and not possible to know what kind of environmental stress a person is under, it is difficult to understand the impact of psychological stress on the physical body. Likewise, since stress measurement is separated into psychological and physiological measurements, it is not easy to analyze the level of stress. Therefore, there is a need for an integrated method for data acquisition and analysis using both instruments.
The present paper, as a first step towards ubiquitous healthcare, considers a method of analysis that makes it possible for an individual to manage without the help of doctors. Further, it suggests an integrated stress index that takes into account subjectivity, objectivity and impartiality. This paper considers a new method of analysis where the stress index is derived from the integration and translation of the measurements made with the measuring instruments used in clinics and hospitals. Each different measuring instrument has a measurement of a different range and normally, depending on the range, is divided into 3-5 stages. This paper suggests the designing of an integrated standard index algorithm by indicating the stages as indexes according to the level of stress. For the new standard index, this algorithm is used when the stages of two measuring instruments are the same. Unlike the standard index that uses two measuring instruments, it suggests designing an index algorithm that obtains a modified index, applying factors and particular groups. It is applied with consideration of the factors of stress that can occur in particular groups. But since instruments of psychological measurement are largely objective, depending on the questions given, different interpretations can occur. In the case of the instruments of physiological measurement, obtained data can be the result of inherent causes or other environmental factors. Therefore, this paper suggests a multi-index analytical expression technique that analyzes the stability and balance between the measurements when using several measuring instruments.
The standard index is the most commonly used, and it is used for determining the impact of stress in both psychological and physiological terms. And in the case of a modification index, it not only determines the psychological and physiological impacts, but analyzes inherent factors and the impact of stress which occurs in particular groups. And in the case of multi-index, as a method for expanding the standard index, although it cannot use the factors that are applied in the modification index, or the particular group index, it is convenient to check the psychological and physiological impacts and helps in analyzing and managing the change in the level of stress.