Rest and Activity Patterns of Army Aviators in Routine and Operational Training Environments

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Medicine
• Sleep Science
• Military Health

Background:

• Fatigue is a major cause of military aviation accidents.
• Shift work and sleep restriction negatively impact aviator sleep patterns.
• Objective data on aviator rest and activity is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document rest and activity patterns of U.S. Army aviators.
• To compare aviator sleep in training vs. garrison environments.
• To utilize wrist-worn actigraphy for objective data collection.

Main Methods:

• Actigraphy data collected from U.S. Army aviators.
• Study included aviators in training (N=20) and garrison (N=77) environments.
• Data collected over a one-week period for each participant.

Main Results:

• 90% of training aviators averaged <8 hours of sleep daily.
• Approximately 50% of garrison aviators averaged <8 hours of sleep daily.
• Training aviators had more awake time, less sleep time, and more light exposure during sleep.

Conclusions:

• Training environments restrict restorative sleep for military aviators.
• These findings underscore the need for research into sleep and fatigue mitigation strategies.
• Operational conditions significantly impact aviator sleep quality and duration.