Abstract
Thirteen healthy and rifle-trained male military reservists performed shooting sessions on two separate occasions 1 h following the ingestion of placebo or 300 mg of caffeine. Shooting included both friend-foe (FF) and vigilance (VIG) tasks, and were performed in the following order: two FF sequences (4 min each), four VIG sequences (30 min each), and two additional FF sequences. The shooting sessions lasted approximately 2.5 h under outdoor conditions (air temperature range from - 3 to 14°C) and were held 48 h apart in a counter-balanced order. Performance measures during the shooting session included engagement time, friend-foe discrimination, and marksmanship accuracy and precision. Assessments of thermal comfort, tiredness, and debilitating symptoms preceded and followed the shooting session, while a self-assessment on performance was administered post-shooting only. Blood was sampled immediately prior to the beginning of the shooting session and was used to determine plasma caffeine, cortisol, and testosterone levels. Engagement times were faster and certain measures of accuracy and precision were impaired during the later FF and VIG sequences. However, caffeine ingestion had no affect upon any of the marksmanship measures, although it did alleviate cold stress and tiredness. That caffeine ingestion did not affect target detection and rifle marksmanship is a finding that differs from other studies, and is explained by a beneficial arousal caused by the mild level of cold stress experienced by the participants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1513-1530 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Ergonomics |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 15 2003 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The investigators wish to acknowledge several people that made this study possible. Lt. Lakatos provided advanced logistical support and liaison function with the investigation team. Sgts. Wojtarowicz and Najlis were instrumental in arranging and maintaining the logistical support on base, and made the trial seamless for the investigators. Capts. Gardener and Willis made it possible to conduct the study on the range, and Sgt. Thoralakson’s expert command of the range was matched by his enthusiasm and considerable help with the study, including target coding. We also appreciate the generous assistance of Capt. Hillier for medical support, Sgts. Lemieux and Levy for weapons support, MCpl. Schmidt for rations support, and Ms. Williams for handling the blood samples. Finally, we wish to thank all the reservists who volunteered for this study from the 41 Canadian Brigade Group. This study was supported by the Soldier System Thrust, Work Unit 2c01, Department of National Defence.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Human Factors and Ergonomics
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Clinical Trial
- Controlled Clinical Trial
- Journal Article
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't