Fatigue assessment: subjective peer-to-peer fatigue scoring

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Medicine
• Human Factors Engineering
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Fatigue in military rotary-wing (RW) aircrew is a significant issue impacting performance and safety.
• Contributing factors include sleep issues, workload, and operational stress.
• Existing fatigue mitigation strategies are insufficient in deployed settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel subjective peer-to-peer fatigue rating system for deployed military RW aircrew.
• To provide a multidimensional external perspective on pilot fatigue and coping mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Pilots anonymously rated their peers' fatigue weekly, excluding self-ratings.
• Safety officers recorded median and variance of peer ratings over time.
• Scoring identified significant deviations from a pilot's baseline fatigue.

Main Results:

• The system offers an external view of pilot fatigue state, relative function, and coping.
• Deviations noted included changes in social interactions and duty performance deficits.
• Peer ratings captured multidimensional aspects of fatigue.

Conclusions:

• Current scientific evidence for peer fatigue scoring systems is limited.
• This novel anonymous system shows potential merit for deployed military aircrew.
• Further research on the reliability and validity of this peer-to-peer fatigue scoring system is warranted.