Preclinical Online Sсreening for Stress-Associated Disorders in Combatants

Background: the need to improve standards, organizational methods and practical scientific approaches to the prevention and treatment of mental pathology and the restoration of mental health of military personnel involved in combat operations determines the importance of developing and implementing effective strategies for correcting the mental state of combatants. The aim: to analyze the results of preclinical online screening of stress-associated disorders in combatants to assess its effectiveness in conducting routine psychoprophylactic examinations of military personnel after returning from the combat zone. Subjects and methods: 176 male employees of the Russian Guard who returned after a business trip of up to 90 days in the combat zone were examined. All combatants underwent preclinical online screening for the detection of stress-associated mental disorders, including methods regulated by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. After testing, the obtained data were processed using cluster analysis by the K-means method. Clinical and psychopathological examination and laboratory studies were conducted, including: the content of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), testosterone and cortisol levels, processing of the data obtained using statistical methods. Results: the combination of high levels of evening cortisol and CDT in combatants may indicate a complex interaction of physical stress, psychological trauma and possible alcohol abuse, which may be the result of both specific conditions of military service and a way to cope with post-war stress and trauma. Conclusions: it was found that the data of preclinical screening testing are consistent with clinical and laboratory results. Online screening testing for the detection of stress-associated disorders in combatants, combined with the determination of testosterone, evening cortisol and CDT levels, can serve as markers of the presence of stress-associated disorders.