Flight Hours and Depression in Flight Attendants During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Flight attendants are constantly exposed to high-stress environments that could lead to the development of depression. The COVID-19 pandemic brought out new risk factors that could affect flight attendants' mental health, such as reduced flight hours and fear of the disease itself, which other studies have shown was associated with depression. We aimed to find out whether reduced flight hours, fear of COVID-19, and other factors were associated with depression in flight attendants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Directorate General Civil Aviation Medical Center Indonesia and Garuda Sentra Medika in 2022. We included flight attendants who were still employed before and after the start of the pandemic. Data were collected using several questionnaires, including the General Health Questionnaire-12 to screen for depression and Fear of COVID-19 for fear levels.

We obtained data from 159 respondents, of whom 25.2% of them had depression. Multivariate analysis showed that the reduction of flight hours 1 yr after the start of the pandemic and fear of COVID-19 were found to significantly increase the likelihood of depression by 2.3 times and 3.9 times, respectively.

During the pandemic, depression was found to be highly prevalent among flight attendants and was associated with the reduction of flight hours and fear of COVID-19. Sutrisno AB, Agustina A, Sosrosumihardjo D, Sugiharto A, Zulaecha SI, Khoe LC. Flight hours and depression in flight attendants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2024; 95(11):826-830.