A Study of Illinois Related Lost Time in Transport Aircraft Crewmembers.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the illness rates of nonpilot air crewmembers are different from pilots. Interest in aircrew illness rates began when schedulers and flight surgeons noticed that frequently there were insufficient numbers of healthy flight engineers to staff the mission. When the literature on aircrew illness rates was reviewed, few studies were found. This study involved the compilation of illness data including diagnosis job title (pilot (P), flight engineer (FE), loadmaster (L)), date of illness onset, and date of recovery for a military airlift wing in the southeastern United States over a two year period. Total time lost rates were calculated for each crew position for all illness and the seven most frequent diagnostic categories. Pilots were used as the comparison (referent) group. The database identified 1976 illnesses (events) in 569,969 person-days at risk. Time lost rates (days lost per 1000 person-days at risk) were significantly higher for flight engineers (56.2, p <.001) and loadmasters (64.0, p <.001) when compared to pilots (29.8). Incidence rates (new illness events per 1000 person-days at risk) were significantly higher for flight engineers (3.87, p<.001) and loadmasters (4.07, p<.001) than for pilots (2.76). Mean duration of illness was also longer for flight engineers at 8.4 days, and loadmasters at 9 days, than pilots at 6.6 days.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA258193

Entities

People

  • David J. Louis

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Airlift Operations
  • Databases
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Flight Crews
  • Health Services
  • Jet Transport Aircraft
  • Medical Personnel
  • Pain
  • Teeth
  • Transport Aircraft
  • United States
  • Wounds And Injuries

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.