101 Assessment of Stress Markers in Restrained Individuals Following Physical Stress With and Without a Sham TASER Activation

Abstract

Law enforcement and out-of-hospital care personnel often confront violent and dangerous individuals who must be restrained for safety purposes as well as to allow for assessment and treatment. Many are under the influence of drugs and law enforcement officers may need to use an electronic control device like a TASER to gain control. However, these techniques have been reported to increase stress on an individual, potentially worsening their physiologic condition. The purpose of this study was to investigate the specific psychological effects of anticipating vs not anticipating a TASER activation on stress biomarkers in exercised and restrained human subjects. We performed a randomized, crossover controlled trial to study stress associated with exercise, physical exhaustion, and restraint with and without an induced psychological stress simulating the field use of a TASER event in human volunteer subjects. Subjects were consented that they would be receiving a TASER activation. Each subject performed two trials each consisting of a brief period of intense exercise on a treadmill to physical exhaustion followed by placement into the hogtie restraint position with and without induced psychological stress. The psychological stress consisted of a TASER brandished and sparked in front of them, followed by shouting the words “Taser, Taser,” followed by a pulling of the trigger to activate the TASER without actual application of the electrical shock to the subject. We collected blood samples for analysis pre and post exercise, as well as 10 minutes after completion of the exercise and sham TASER. Hormones and stress markers measured included cortisol, copeptin, orexin A, dynorphin, oxytocin, neuropeptide Y, dopamine, norepinephrine, and cortisol-ACTH ratio. Means and standard deviations (SD) are presented compared between and within groups. In the table. Numbers are mean values with standard deviations in parenthesis.Tabled 1Compound measuredPre-EXPost-ExPost-ResPre-EX TaserPost-Ex TaserPost-Res TaserCortisol (ng/ml)70.47 (38-102.7)73.97 (36-111.9)75.64 (52-99)109.41 (78.7-140)104 (70.8-137)88.21 (49.5-127)Copeptin (ng/ml)1.77 (1.40-2.15)1.68 (1.21-2.16)1.32 (0.99-1.64)0.91 (0.69-1.14)1.36 (0.73-1.99)1.74 (1.30-2.18)Orexin A (pg/ml)20.95 (10-31.9)22.08 (11.6-32.6)20.34 (8.1-32.6)24.63 (10.7-38.5)24.42 (12.2-36.6)16.23 (7.1-25.4)Dynorphin (pg/ml)3.20 (0-7.7)2.82 (0.6-5.1)2.55 (0.9-4.2)4.86 (0.3-9.4)3.61 (1.2-6.0)3.62 (1.2-6.0)Oxytocin (pg/ml)49.7 (37-61)46.47 (35-58)49 (39-59)52.86 (40-66)51.08 (37-65)51.59 (38-65)Neuropeptide Y (pg/ml)102.32 (66-139)83.75 (60-107)65.70 (48-83)68.65 (36-101)68.19 (46-90)79.23 (59-100)Dopamine (ng/L)15.55 (3.4-27.7)17.58 (6.9-28.3)17.67 (9-26.3)19.58 (5.5-33.7)19.42 (5.8-33.1)15.61 (8.6-22.6)Norepinephrine (ng/ml)24.39 (11.1-37.7)20.64 (7.9-33.4)17.71 (8.2-27.2)24.06 (14.1-34.0)21.03 (9.7-32.3)16.93 (9.6-24.3)Cortisol/ACTH ratio1.76 (0-3.54)1.89 (0.2-3.58)1.12 (.28-1.96)1.80 (0.58-3.02)1.47 (0.55-2.39)1.51 (0-3.03) Open table in a new tab We identified differences within and between study groups for the biomarkers measured. In this limited study, during a brief period of intense exercise and restraint followed by the psychological stress of a sham TASER application, there were some differences in the markers measured. These differences need to be studied further.