Psychophysiological assessment of stress and screening of health risk in peacekeeping operations

• Published in: Military medicine Vol. 172; no. 1; pp. 44 - 48
• Main Authors: Nikolova, Rouja, Aleksiev, Lyubomir, Vukov, Mircho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01-01-2007
• Subjects: Adult; Bulgaria - ethnology; Cardiovascular system; Case-Control Studies; Cognition - physiology; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cognitive ability; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Health Status Indicators; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Mass Screening; Military deployment; Military Personnel; Military Psychiatry; Post traumatic stress disorder; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Stress, Psychological - complications; Stress, Psychological - diagnosis; Surveillance; Warfare; Yugoslavia; Bulgaria; Yugoslavia; Kosovo
• ISSN: 0026-4075; 1930-613X
• DOI: 10.7205/MILMED.172.1.44

Medical surveillance for military personnel participating in peacekeeping missions (PKMs) is required to define the effect of stress on health status. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of stress on the autonomic cardiovascular control and health risk of 72 Bulgarian peacekeepers participating in a PKM in Kosovo. The assessment of psychophysiological stress and determination of stress characteristics were implemented with analysis of heart rate variability and personal interviews. As a response to the cumulative exposure to the effect of stress on cognitive function, we observed reductions in parasympathetic function and baroreceptor modulation of heart rhythm. The alteration in cardiovascular control was registered as decreases in short-term variability and spectral powers of cardiointervals in the respiratory sinus arrhythmia and Traube-Hering-Mayer bands. The advantage of psychophysiological stress assessment and screening of health risk in PKMs is that results indicate the mechanisms of the effects of stress on cognitive function and health status.