Effects of long- and short-term experiences on stress during identification works of dead bodies: Rapid stress level measurement using voice

Authors

  • Masakazu Higuchi, PhD
  • Isao Yamamoto, PhD
  • Yasuhiro Omiya, PhD
  • Mitsuteru Nakamura, PhD
  • Shuji Shinohara, PhD
  • Takeshi Takano, BE
  • Kimiko Nakagawa, PhD
  • Hiroshi Ohira, PhD
  • Yoshihiro Yamada, PhD
  • Shinichi Tokuno, MD, DMCC, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/ajdm.2020.0374

Keywords:

disaster medicine, body identification, stress evaluation, voice biomarker

Abstract

Objective: The mental health issues of personnel dealing with the deceased at times of disasters is a problem and techniques are needed that allow for real-time, easy-to-use stress checks. We have studied techniques for measuring mental state using voice analysis which has the benefit of being non-invasive, easy-to-use, and can be performed in real-time. For this study, we used voice measurement to determine the stress experienced during body identification training workshops for dentists. We studied whether or not stress levels were affected by having previous experience with body identification either in actual disaster settings or during training.

Design: Since participants training using actual dead bodies in particular are expected to suffer higher stress exposure, we also assessed their mental state pre- and post-training using actual dead bodies.

Results: The results confirmed marked differences in the mental state between before and after training in participants without any actual experience, between participants who engaged in training using manikins before actual dead bodies and participants who did not.

Conclusions: These results suggest that, in body identification training, the level of stress when coming into contact with dead bodies varies depending on participants’ experience and the training sequence. Moreover, it is believed that voice-based stress assessment can be conducted in the limited time during training sessions and that it can be usefully implemented in actual disaster response settings.

Author Biographies

Masakazu Higuchi, PhD

Project Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Isao Yamamoto, PhD

Lecturer, Department of Disaster Medicine and Dental Sociology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Kanagawa, Japan

Yasuhiro Omiya, PhD

Senior Research Fellow, Research and Development Department, PST Inc., Kanagawa, Japan

Mitsuteru Nakamura, PhD

Project Researcher, Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Shuji Shinohara, PhD

Project Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Takeshi Takano, BE

Researcher, Research and Development Department, PST Inc., Kanagawa, Japan

Kimiko Nakagawa, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Disaster Medicine and Dental Sociology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Kanagawa, Japan

Hiroshi Ohira, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Disaster Medicine and Dental Sociology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Kanagawa, Japan

Yoshihiro Yamada, PhD

Professor, Department of Disaster Medicine and Dental Sociology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Kanagawa, Japan

Shinichi Tokuno, MD, DMCC, PhD

Project Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

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Published

10/01/2020

How to Cite

Higuchi, PhD, M., I. Yamamoto, PhD, Y. Omiya, PhD, M. Nakamura, PhD, S. Shinohara, PhD, T. Takano, BE, K. Nakagawa, PhD, H. Ohira, PhD, Y. Yamada, PhD, and S. Tokuno, MD, DMCC, PhD. “Effects of Long- and Short-Term Experiences on Stress During Identification Works of Dead Bodies: Rapid Stress Level Measurement Using Voice”. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, vol. 15, no. 4, Oct. 2020, pp. 251-9, doi:10.5055/ajdm.2020.0374.

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Articles