STRess Assessment of INterventional Cardiology Fellows and Attendings

Interventional cardiology (IC) fellows and attendings experience high levels of stress. In a recent study, IC fellowship was considered very stressful by 22%, somewhat stressful by 62%, and not stressful by 16%(1). In a different study, 29% of the IC fellows considered leaving their job during the past year, while more than a quarter (29%) felt overwhelmed ≥3x/week(2). Moreover, the same study reports that burnout affects 69% of the interventional cardiologists. In addition, in the Medscape Cardiologist Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report 2023, 43% of the cardiologists in general reported being burned out and 23% were depressed(3). However, it remains unknown whether they deal with increased stress before, during, and after a procedure, if their stress decreases (and if so, how much) with experience, and how they recover after a procedure. The present study will study the stress levels of IC fellows and attendings using various subjective metrics and wearable devices.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Stress

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 15

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55407
      • Recruiting
      • Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
      • Contact: Bavana V Rangan, BDS, MPH; Phone Number: 817-821-9945; Email: bavana.rangan@allina.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The target study population is all interventional cardiology attendings and fellows at Minneapolis Heart Institute.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Interventional Cardiology fellow or attending.
2. Age 18 years or older.
3. Willing and able to provide informed consent.
4. Access to smartphone (Apple or Android platform).
5. Willing and able to wear the wearable devices.

Exclusion Criteria:

1- Any health condition that in the opinion of the investigator would preclude individual's participation in the study such as conditions that would preclude them from wearing the study wearables and participating to provide wearable data.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)	Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as assessed by the wearable devices	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Stress	Subjective stress assessed by the STAI-short version at baseline, before and after a procedure. Higher scores on the STAI indicate greater anxiety	Baseline and at the end of study period at 14 days
Procedural characteristics	Procedural characteristics as assessed by the post-procedural questionnaire	Perioperative
Burnout	Burnout as assessed by the Mini-Z survey. A higher score indicates increased burnout	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Heart Rate	Heart rate as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Sleep	Sleep metrics as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Blood oxygen	Blood oxygen as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Respiratory rate	Respiratory rate as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Body temperature	Body temperature as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Workout metrics	Workout metrics as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days
Energy consumption	Energy consumption as assessed by the wearable device(s).	From enrollment to end of study period at 14 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 4, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 4, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 4, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 17, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 31, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): September 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 31, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: STRAIN

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No