Salivary cortisol as a biological marker for screening enlisted submariners

Submarine duty in the United States Navy is considered to be one of the most stressful assignments in the military. The submarine community requires psychological screening, SUBSCREEN, prior to Enlisted Submarine School (BESS). SUBSCREEN is used to evaluate for specific traits, such as claustrophobia, that are incompatible with submarine service, as well as general psychological fragility. Currently there are no biological sampling techniques used in this evaluation process. Despite the current screening, 18.5% of the submariners who graduate from BESS do not complete their first tour, costing the Navy {dollar}33.3 million dollars annually.; This correlation design compared SUBSCREEN scores to various indices of cortisol activity of sailors during BESS training. The purpose was to evaluate the relationship of the SUBSCREEN scores and a biological marker of stress to determine the potential value of the additional screening. A long-term objective of the study is to determine if salivary cortisol levels predict attrition in the fleet.; The results of this study show little correlation of the cortisol activity and the SUBSCREEN, suggesting that they are testing discrete aspects of individual differences. The results of this study will present preliminary evidence for future longitudinal studies to evaluate cortisol activity in submariners who are more chronically stressed.; The secondary purpose of the study was to compare the gold standard ELISA to a newly developed assay by the Naval Institute of Dental and Biomedical Research utilizing fluorescence polarization. This assay exploits technology that has been available for serum, but not for saliva. This assay offers real time results in only three minutes and may prove valuable for far forward deployed stress studies.