Working capacity and general functional state during a 20-day Arctic expedition (on the example of the Arctic Floating University)

Abstract

The climatic and geographical conditions of the Arctic region and social and living conditions of the expeditionary form of work can have a negative impact on the activities and well-being of people carrying out their professional activities in these conditions. The person functional state reflects the main activity level of the main physiological systems (autonomic nervous system, etc.) in a certain period of time. Daily monitoring of human’s functioning cardiovascular and nervous systems indicators is an effective technology for the prevention of psychological maladjustment, deterioration of health, and undesirable situations under the influence of unfavorable factors. The study purpose is to describe the working capacity and general functional states dynamics of expedition members during the expedition period in the Arctic. Research methods are instrumental psychophysiological methods, psychological questionnaires and multivariate statistical analysis methods. This study was conducted on research vessel within 20 days in the morning and in the evening. The study involved 39 people (average age – 33,6 ± 2 years). The majority of employees experience an increase in their working capacity against the background of a decrease in the level of their general functional state at the beginning of the expedition period. The middle of the expeditionary period is characterized by the instability of the working capacity level. With the end of the active research work period, the general functional state of many participants is associated with a period of rest and recovery. In the dynamics of the autonomic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system states prevails over the parasympathetic according to the data of objective (instrumental psychophysiological diagnostics) and subjective methods (psychological methods). Some of the results correlate with our previous studies, which were devoted to the study of the shift workers' human functional state.

Keywords: adaptation, Arctic, functional state

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002679