Review of Cost-Effective and Practical Methods for Obtaining Individual Indices of Operation Stress for Deployed Military Personnel

The U.S. military medical system has made a significant investment in preparing for the emergence of a deployment-related environmental illness if this should occur in the future. Central to this effort are geographical information system (GIS) exposure databases maintained by the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHHPM). However, many experts believe that environmental illness cannot be understood without an understanding of concomitant stress. The following review summarizes the lessons learned from studies of the health outcomes from combined exposure to psychological stress and low-level chemical exposure. The primary conclusion is that databases of stress exposure comparable to the USACHPPM environmental exposure databases should be available in case a deployment-related environmental illness does emerge among veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Efforts to prepare such a database are reviewed along with a review of potential technology for collecting data on combat stress from soldiers in future military deployments.