Criteria of the Strain on the Adaptive Mechanisms in Healthy Male Rotational Workers in the Far North

Due to the persistent high stress the human body’s functional systems are subjected to in the Far North, the transition from a state of health to a state of illness can occur gradually and unnoticed. Therefore, developing criteria for assessing the body’s adaptive reserves in rotational workers is relevant. The purpose of this article was to study the adaptive potential of healthy men working in rotation in the Far North and to identify screening criteria for the state of adaptation. Materials and methods. A total of 56 men aged 35 to 60 years who have been working in rotation in the oil and gas industry for more than three years were examined. The index of functional changes was calculated based on demographic, anthropometric and haemodynamic parameters. The strength of the nervous system was determined using the tapping test technique. The psycho-emotional state was assessed using the AC-6 Aktivatsiometr device. To determine body reactivity, the subjects’ psycho-emotional state, blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and after the tapping test. Results. The calculation of the index of functional changes allowed us to identify two degrees of adaptation in the subjects: satisfactory and strain on the adaptive mechanisms. Men with strain on the adaptive mechanisms were mostly overweight and often had a weak nervous system. The strain was manifested in heightened psycho-emotional state at rest and this parameter’s lacking reaction to the psycho-emotional stress (tapping test). The weakening of the body’s regulatory systems during strain on the adaptive mechanisms was manifested in an increase in mean dynamic arterial pressure at high vascular stiffness and growing myocardial oxygen demand. As screening criteria of the strain on the adaptive mechanisms, the following can be used: increased diastolic pressure (over 80 mm Hg) at rest in people with high body mass index, as well as low reactivity of the cardiovascular system to psycho-emotional stress.