Issue 25-3, 2026

Original article

https://doi.org/10.38025/2078-1962-2026-25-3-34-47

Contemporary Methods for Diagnosing Stress-Related Conditions in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury: Case Series of 4 Reports

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ORCIDAnna A. Kuzyukova*, ORCIDYana G. Pekhova, ORCIDLarisa A. Marchenkova

National Medical Research Center for Rehabilitation and Balneology, Moscow, Russia


ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION.As a result of traumatic brain injury (TBI), patients often develop emotional disturbances, cognitive and other functional impairments, leading to a state of distress, which can be difficult to assess using clinical and psychometric methods alone. Sympathetic activation is a key component of the stress response. Recent research indicates that the assessment of sympathetic activation via electrodermal activity (EDA) parameters is a reliable method for diagnosing stress, pain and other distressing conditions.

AIM.To demonstrate the current possibilities for objectifying stress states through a comprehensive assessment incorporating clinical methods, psychometric measurements and analysis of EDA parameters, using 4 clinical case studies of patients undergoing rehabilitation following TBI.

DESCRIPTIONS OF CASES.Additional assessment of sympathetic activation using EDA parameters in combination with clinical and psychometric approaches made it possible to: objectively confirm the initially high level of stress overstrain caused by pain and emotional disorders, as well as its reduction due to a decrease in the intensity of the pain syndrome and stabilization of the emotional state after rehabilitation measures (1st clinical observation); objectively determine a significant degree of stress overstrain and its dynamics in the process of rehabilitation measures in a patient with severe cognitive impairment (2nd clinical observation); identify a simulation of well-being in a patient with severe emotional disorders (3rd clinical observation); promptly diagnose a sharp increase in the level of stress tension in a patient prone to aggression (4th clinical observation).

CONCLUSION.The level of sympathetic activation, determined by EDA parameters, is a reliable marker of stress in patients who have suffered a TBI. The use of this methodology as part of a comprehensive assessment of patients’ condition, in combination with clinical and psychometric methods, significantly increases the efficiency of diagnosing distress states and enables monitoring of their progression during the course of rehabilitation measures.


KEYWORDS: stress, distress, electrodermal activity, EDA, skin conductance, traumatic brain injury, sympathetic activation, depression, pain

FOR CITATION: Kuzyukova A.A., Pekhova Ya.G., Marchenkova L.A. Contemporary Methods for Diagnosing Stress-Related Conditions in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury: Case Series of 4 Reports. Bulletin of Rehabilitation Medicine. 2026; 25(3):34–47. https://doi.org/10.38025/2078-1962-2026-25-3-34-47 (In Russ.).

FOR CORRESPONDENCE:

Anna A. Kuzyukova, E-mail: kuzyukovaaa@nmicrk.ru , anna_kuzyukova@mail.ru


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