Motion sickness susceptibility in student navigators

Identification of individuals highly susceptible to motion sickness could be of significant benefit in managing flying personnel in training. Several studies in the past four decades with this end have been primarily aimed at pilot trainees. The following study is a prospective evaluation of airsickness in Air Force navigation students. Motion Sickness Questionnaires and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories were given to the students at the beginning of navigator training. Airsickness was assessed by means of questionnaires and evaluation by a flight surgeon. Motion sickness among navigation trainees was found to be quite common. However, prediction of susceptible individuals by methods used was not reliable. Further investigation of airsickness susceptibility in navigation students by means of physiologic techniques is suggested.