THE IMPACT OF MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ON THE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHO- EMOTIONAL STATE OF MILITARY PERSONNEL

Abstract

Topicality. Traumatic brain injury is one of the most common and serious injuries in combatants today. Military personnel are among those at greatest risk of traumatic brain injury, as they are surrounded daily by explosions from shells, mines, and incoming missiles, all of which are factors in the development of concussion, which can subsequently cause neurological disorders that will have a negative impact on their physical and psychoemotional state. Although the symptoms of concussion and other forms of TBI usually resolve within a few weeks, 10–15% of people may develop long- term symptoms. The goal of the work is to assess the impact of mild traumatic brain injury on the physical and psycho- emotional state of military personnel. Materials and methods. the following methods were used in the study: analysisand generalization of data from scientific and methodological literature (Pubmed, PedRo), sociological methods (Visual Analogue Scale, Beck Scale, Berg Scale), medical and biological methods (Schulte Table, test “Get Up and Go”), and methods of mathematical statistics. The study was conducted in the TMO 1 of St. Luke’s Hospital in Lviv. The study involved 15 patients after mild traumatic brain injury on the 12th day (±1 day) after transfer to the rehabilitation department.The average age of the patients is 27.3 ± 3.5 years. Research results. According to the visual analogue scale, in 27% of patients the headache was mild and did not cause significant discomfort, in 60% of patients the pain was moderate and brought some discomfort to daily activities, and in 13% of patients the pain was severe, which had significant discomfortin everyday life. In the values of the control survey indicators of dizziness limitation, 53% of patients had mild dizziness in performing daily activities, 40% of patients had moderate dizziness, and 7% of patients had severe dizziness. After determining concentration and attention according to the Schulte table, it was found that none of the patients showed an excellent result, 73% of patients showed a good result, and 27% – satisfactory. The determination of balance showed thatall patients had good balance, but still 5 of them had difficulties in performing some tasks, in particular, they could not stand on one leg without help, and 2 of them had severe dizziness when turning 360°. The examination of sleep qualityshowed that 47% of patients had problems with sleep, and 20% – on the contrary, had excessive drowsiness. Most of the study participants who had severe headaches also had reduced concentration and attention, impaired balance, and more severe depression. Conclusions. Analysis of the study results shows that patients after mild and moderate traumatic braininjury have neurological symptoms that affect the physical and psychoemotional state of the patient.