Airsickness Desensitisation for the Canadian Forces - A Recommendation
Abstract
Airsickness is associated with other forms of motion sickness. It is a common occurrence among aircrew trainees; the problem is most acute in the early stages of training. The identification of an alternative to pharmacological treatment of airsickness for individuals regularly exposed to provocative environments while carrying out skilled or potentially hazardous tasks, is an important issue. Airsickness desensitisation has been proposed and employed by various nations as the program of choice for prevention of airsickness during early training. With the newly acquired trainers (Harvard II and the Hawk) in the Canadian Forces (CF), it is important at this time to re-evaluate the CF airsickness desensitisation program at 15 Wing. The purpose of this recommendation is to provide a scientific update on habituation to nauseogenic motion stimuli, to clarify a number of misconceptions and to provide a recommendation on an improved airsickness desensitisation program based on current valid scientific information. A number of vestibular screening tests on oculomotor and postural function that could be achieved with relative ease are proposed as part of the initial assessment for potential pathological predisposition to airsickness. It is also recommended that the current biofeedback and relaxation therapy be deleted. Ground based desensitisation should be reduced to a 2-3 week period of twice daily exposure to Coriolis stimuli of progressively increasing intensity. This is followed immediately by 10-15 hours of exposure in which incremental habituation to the more complex and provocative manoeuvres are carried out. Quantitative evaluation of the subject's progress for both ground based and in flight desensitisation is recommended. An alternative ground based desensitisation procedure using the human centrifuge is proposed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA395245
Entities
People
- Bob Cheung
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada