Research Potential of a Heart Rate Variability Diagnostic System for the Study of Stress and Health Risk in Peacekeeping Operations

摘要

Medical surveillance and medical screening for military personnel participating in Peacekeeping Missions (PKM) is required to define the effect of peacekeeping stress on their health status and to determine suspected risk indicators. The aim of the present study is to determine the effect of stress on autonomic cardiovascular control and health risk of 72 Bulgarian peacekeepers participating in PKM in Kosovo. A diagnostic system for the analysis of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was used for psychophysiological assessment of stress and screening of health risk at peacekeeping deployment phases. Personal interviews were implemented to reveal the nature of the stressors. HRV variables and heart rate were compared between pre-deployment and re-deployment phases and between deployment phases and controls. As a response to cumulative exposure to the effect of stress on cognitive functions, we measured decreases in parasympathetic activity with PRSA, and STV and decreases in baroreceptor modulation of heart rhythm with PTHM. Identifying peacekeepers with suspected health risk and differentiating basic types of autonomic control (as a response to level of stress) associated with referent, pre-morbid and morbid states may be an important risk indicator for the assessment of health status. The advantage of psychophysiological assessment of peacekeepers stress response at deployment phase using functional indices of stress and health risk is that it provides objective information about the impact of stress on their health.