Sickness absence and flight type exposure in flight crew members

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Aviation Medicine
• Workforce Health

Background:

• Sickness absence patterns vary across workforces, with limited data on flight crews.
• Understanding flight crew sickness absence and its relation to flight schedules is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the link between cumulative exposure to various flight types and sickness absence in flight crew.
• To analyze the association between flight schedules and sickness absence episodes exceeding seven days.

Main Methods:

• A 5-year historical cohort of 8228 flight crew members was analyzed.
• Flight schedules and sickness absence data were collected from company records.
• Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, including confounders and prior sickness absence, were used.

Main Results:

• Univariate analyses indicated an increased odds for sickness absence with medium-haul flights and time zone crossings.
• Multivariate analyses, after accounting for previous sickness absence, revealed no significant associations between flight types and sickness absence.

Conclusions:

• Cumulative flight exposure is not an independent predictor of sickness absence in flight crew when prior absence is considered.
• Targeting preventive strategies towards flight crew with a history of high sickness absence may be an effective approach.