Placement of combat stress teams in Afghanistan: reducing barriers to care.

This article describes the medical planning process whereby combat stress and mental health clinicians were placed at Forward Operating Bases in southern and western Afghanistan during a period of intensive surge operations in 2009-2010. The distribution plan for the Combat Stress Control teams was based on previously published guidance on ratios of combat stress personnel to troop end-strength, population at-risk data, and kinetic activity associated with current and future combat operations. The article concludes with outcome data that validates the distribution decisions made through the planning process. Through dissemination of this information, it is hoped that future planners and clinicians can improve the processes involved in providing combat stress and mental health services to forward-deployed troops.

Physiological changes associated with respiratory muscle training in patients on mechanical ventilation / Cambios fisiológicos relacionados con entrenamiento muscular respiratorio en pacientes con ventilación mecánica

Abstract Introduction: Respiratory muscle training is a technique that aims to increase the strength of the respiratory muscles. However, few studies have addressed physiological changes related to this intervention in patients on mechanical ventilation. Objective: To determine the physiological changes associated with respiratory muscle training in patients on mechanical ventilation. Materials and methods: A secondary data analysis was performed. The population was made up of the 62 patients in the experimental group of the main study, who received respiratory muscle training. Heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and tidal volume values were obtained. The difference between the means of each of the variables was analyzed through the paired t-test, while physiological changes between training sessions were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Differences with a p<0.05 value were considered statistically significant. Results: Statistically significant differences were found between physiological variables before and after respiratory muscle training (p<0.05), except for tidal volume and mean blood pressure (p>0.05). In contrast, when the effect was evaluated according to the number of training sessions received by the patients, no significant differences were observed in any of the variables (p>0.05). Conclusions: Respiratory muscle training is a viable and tolerable therapeutic intervention in this population.

Resumen Introducción. El entrenamiento muscular respiratorio es una técnica fisioterapéutica usada para incrementar la fuerza de la musculatura respiratoria, sin embargo pocos estudios han abordado los cambios fisiológicos relacionados con esta intervención en pacientes con ventilación mecánica. Objetivo. Determinar los cambios fisiológicos relacionados con el entrenamiento muscular respiratorio en pacientes con ventilación mecánica. Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un análisis de datos secundarios. La población estuvo conformada por los 62 pacientes del grupo experimental del estudio principal, quienes recibieron entrenamiento muscular respiratorio. Los valores de frecuencia cardiaca, frecuencia respiratoria, presión arterial, saturación de oxígeno y volumen corriente fueron registrados. La diferencia entre el promedio de cada una de las variables fue analizada mediante la prueba de t pareada, mientras que para el análisis de los cambios fisiológicos entre sesiones de entrenamiento se empleó la prueba de Kruskal-Wallis. Las diferencias con un valor p<0.05 se consideraron como estadísticamente significativas. Resultados. Se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las variables fisiológicas antes y después del entrenamiento muscular respiratorio (p<0.05), a excepción de volumen corriente y la presión arterial media (p>0.05). Por el contrario, cuando se evaluó el efecto según el número de sesiones de entrenamiento recibidas por los pacientes, no se observaron diferencias significativas en ninguna de las variables (p>0.05). Conclusiones. El entrenamiento muscular respiratorio es una intervención terapéutica viable y tolerable en esta población.