Each year, approximately 50 soldiers are referred to perform the heat tolerance test (HTT), to determine their readiness to return to duty after heat injury as combatants in field units. Nowadays, the criteria used in the HTT to determine heat tolerance are based solely on physiological parameters (i.e., thermoregulatory aspects of heart rate, core temperature and sweat response), with no cognitive evaluation. The extensive scientific literature on the influence of exposure to heat and physical effort on cognitive performance and psychological strain suggests monitoring cognitive functions post injury could provide important decisions supporting information and insight.
The purpose of the presented study is to add cognitive evaluation to the physiological parameters monitored in the HTT and to construct a new cognitive-physiological model for heat tolerance evaluation, suggesting a new criterion for the definition of heat tolerance or intolerance.
The cognitive evaluation is based on tests (PVT, POMS) used and validated in the research laboratories of the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM). As this study is still ongoing, interim results will be presented and discussed. The discussion will also elaborate on the importance of adding cognitive evaluation when physical or physiological assessment is being made, especially among those who need to maintain peak performance involving cognitive aspects.