Rehabilitation from airsickness in military pilots: long-term treatment effectiveness

Airsickness (AS) still represents a major issue in aviation medicine and affects many student pilots and aircrew members. This study aimed at producing an update of the Italian Air Force rehabilitation program for AS, including data on a prolonged follow-up (> 8 yr).

Data from 20 military pilots with a past history of rehabilitation for incapacitating AS were compared to those of 65 normal controls. All individuals from both samples were categorized as dropouts or successfully employed in fast jets, multiengine air carriers, or helicopters. All AS individuals were analyzed before and after their treatment with the Coriolis Stress test (CST).

The AS sample showed similar results with respect to the control group, with the same incidence of dropouts (15% vs. 14%) and destination to rotary wing flight lines (15% vs. 17%). All dropouts were observed within the first year after rehabilitation. A statistically non-significant trend of being employed in transport aircraft (50% of individuals vs. 34% in the control group) rather than in fast jets (20% vs. 35%) was observed in the AS sample.

Within the AS sample, the rehabilitation protocol had a success rate of 85%. The effects of rehabilitation were long lasting (mean follow up: 8.3 +/- 2.5 yr). Moreover, the flight career of AS treated individuals did not significantly differ from controls. The pretreatment CST was helpful in calibrating the initial intensity and duration of the nauseogenic stimulation, while it was useless as a post-treatment analysis of the outcome from training.