Comparison of Army Flight School Performance in Smokers and Nonsmokers
Abstract
The effects of smoking on performance were examined in this study by comparing flight school performance in groups of nonsmoking and smoking Army aviation students. Academic and in-flight grades for five phases of Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) classes between January 1984 and November 1986 were extracted from Aviation Center records and compared to the student's responses on the auxiliary questionnaire portion of the Aviator Epidemiologic Data Register, a comprehensive database collected yearly on every Army aviator by the joint effort of the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory and the Aeromedical Activity. There were 2,025 students with data sufficiently complete and analysis, with the average age of 24.5 years, and with a rank and sex distribution as follows: 96.3 percent males, 3.7 percent females; 53.2 percent commissioned officers, 46.7 percent warrant officers. Through past studies (1982) have shown 56 percent of all Army personnel were smokers, strict criteria defining smokers and nonsmokers in this study, plus recent decreases in smoking rates, produced a 15:85 ration of smokers to nonsmokers (recent quitters and those who smoke less than one pack/day were not included in the analysis. That smoking is detrimental to overall health is clear from many controlled medical studies, however, using a very adequate number of aviators, no evidence of a statistically significant relationship was found between smoking behavior and flight school performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA200429
Entities
People
- Dudley R. Price
- Michael G. Sanders
- Ronald J. Edwards
Organizations
- United States Army Aeromedical Research Lab