Portable Biosensors for Psychophysiological Stress Monitoring of a Helicopter Crew

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the psychophysiological stress response of a helicopter crew using portable biosensors, and to analyze the psychophysiological stress response differences of experienced and non-experienced crew members. We analyzed 27 participants (33.89 ± 5.93 years) divided into two different flight maneuvers: a crane rescue maneuver: 15 participants (three control and 12 military) and a low-altitude maneuver: 12 participants (five control and seven military). Anxiety, rating of perceived exertion, subjective perception of stress, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, skin temperature, blood lactate, cortical arousal, autonomic modulation, leg and hand strength, leg flexibility, spirometry, urine, and short-term memory were analyzed before and after both helicopter flight maneuvers. The maneuvers produced a significant increase in stress and effort perception, state of anxiety, and sympathetic modulation, as well as a significant decrease in heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, leg and inspiratory muscle strength, and urine proteins. The use of biosensors showed how a crane rescue and low-altitude helicopter maneuvers produced an anticipatory anxiety response, showing an increased sympathetic autonomic modulation prior to the maneuvers, which was maintained during the maneuvers in both experienced and non-experienced participants. The crane rescue maneuver produced a higher maximal heart rate and decreased pulmonary capacity and strength than the low-altitude maneuver. The psychophysiological stress response was higher in the experienced than in non-experienced participants, but both presented an anticipatory stress response before the maneuver.

Stress and Workload Assessment in Aviation—A Narrative Review

“…Regarding the RF articles, 13 were found belonging to this category [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 ] and the Venn diagram in Figure 2 shows the trend in the use of the different types of assessing methodologies. The multi-approach is again the most used.…”

The Effect of Expertise during Simulated Flight Emergencies on the Autonomic Response and Operative Performance in Military Pilots

“…Pilots must endure a lot of stress during flight emergencies and still be able to give adequate responses to survive and avoid damaging the aircraft. For this reason, the capacity to work under these conditions is essential in this field, as is the ability to safely train and test the pilots [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…Previous studies in the military population and especially in pilots reported an increase in sympathetic activity during flights and combat maneuvers, as well as increased cortical arousal [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 38 , 39 ]. Low HRV typically reflected excessive sympathetic and/or inadequate parasympathetic modulation of heart rate, with reduced HRV observed during periods of emotional and physical stress (behavioral rigidity) and increased HRV during rest [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 37 , 40 ].…”

Psychophysiological Stress Status of Soldiers Prior to an Operative Deployment

“…Specifically, in the military field, it was observed that parachute jumping produces a large sympathetic modulation among paratrooper units [ 24 , 25 ], as well as in warfighters in asymmetrical combat environments [ 26 ], underground operations [ 27 ], special operation courses [ 28 ], survival maneuvers [ 29 ], or fighter jet pilots in combat flight maneuvers [ 30 , 31 ] and helicopters crews [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Chronic exposure to stressful events in military units was related to the prevalence of anxiety disorders and an increase in diagnoses over time in this millennium, with a prevalence of 0.8 per 100 service members for first service occurrence, followed by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a rate of 0.5 out of every 100 [ 35 ].…”