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Effect of Combat Stress in the Psychophysiological Response of Elite and Non-Elite Soldiers

  • Education & Training
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Abstract

We aimed to analyse the effect of combat stress in the psychophysiological responses of elite and non-elite soldiers. We analysed heart rate, cortical arousal, skin temperature, blood lactate concentration and lower body muscular strength before and after a tactical combat simulation in 40 warfighters divided in two groups: elite (n: 20; 28.5 ± 6.38 years) and non-elite (n:20; 31.94 ± 6.24 years) group. Elite presented a significantly higher lactate concentration after combat than non elite soldiers (3.8 ± 1.5 vs 6.6 ± 1.3 mmol/L). Non-elite soldiers had a higher heart rate pre and post the simulation than elite (82.9 ± 12.3 vs 64.4 ± 11. pre non elite and elite respectively; 93.0 ± 12.8 vs 88 ± 13.8 bpm post non elite and elite respectively). Elite soldiers presented higher lower muscular strength than elite in all test and before and after the combat simulation. Cortical arousal was not modified significantly in both groups. We conclude elite soldiers presented in combat a higher anaerobic metabolism activation and muscular strength than non-elite soldiers, but cardiovascular, cortical, and muscular strength manifestation presented the same response in both elite and non-elite soldiers.

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Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge the contribution of the Light Forces General Quarter of the Spanish Army.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sport Science, European University of Madrid, Tajo street, s/n, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain

    José Francisco Tornero-Aguilera & Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez

  2. Studies Centre in Applied Combat (CESCA), Toledo, Spain

    José Juan Robles-Pérez & Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez

  3. Light Forces Head Quarter of the Spanish Army, Madrid, Spain

    José Juan Robles-Pérez

Authors
  1. José Francisco Tornero-Aguilera
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  2. José Juan Robles-Pérez
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  3. Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez
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Correspondence to Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Education & Training.

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Tornero-Aguilera, J.F., Robles-Pérez, J.J. & Clemente-Suárez, V.J. Effect of Combat Stress in the Psychophysiological Response of Elite and Non-Elite Soldiers. J Med Syst 41, 100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-017-0748-x

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