Nasa-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX); 20 Years Later

Abstract

NASA-TLX is a multi-dimensional scale designed to obtain workload estimates from one or more operators while they are performing a task or immediately afterwards. The years of research that preceded subscale selection and the weighted averaging approach resulted in a tool that has proven to be reasonably easy to use and reliably sensitive to experimentally important manipulations over the past 20 years. Its use has spread far beyond its original application (aviation), focus (crew complement), and language (English). This survey of 550 studies in which NASA-TLX was used or reviewed was undertaken to provide a resource for a new generation of users. The goal was to summarize the environments in which it has been applied, the types of activities the raters performed, other variables that were measured that did (or did not) covary, methodological issues, and lessons learned

Training improves laparoscopic tasks performance and decreases operator workload

“…It provides an overall index of mental workload as well as the relative contributions of the six subscales: mental, physical and temporal task demands; and effort, frustration and perceived performance. It is widely regarded as a reliable and validated tool for reporting perceptions of workload [4]. It has also been used extensively in a variety of tasks and is increasingly being used to assess mental workload in the field of medicine [5][6][7].…”

“…However, the RTLX [4] has been found to be simpler to apply and as sensitive as the weighted NASA-TLX. This also means that it can be easily administered in the clinical setting to assess the mental workload of surgeons and residents.…”

Is Two Enough?

“…Nevertheless, we let every group finish all tasks. At the end of each condition, they were asked to individually fill out the NASA TLX questionnaire [17]. Lastly, we conducted a short semi-structured interview about their utilization of multiple devices and their preference for PAIRED vs.…”

Gaze entropy reflects surgical task load

“…However, surgical training and its assessment is particularly challenging due to the fundamental ethical tension between medical education and patients' safety [11]. Current assessment tools are based on validated observer-generated scoring systems [12], on self-reported tests and questionnaires [13], and on computer-based simulations metrics [14]. Although sometimes sophisticated, such methods have methodological and setting restrictions, however.…”