A new method for tracking and analyzing illness and morbidity among active duty U.S. Air Force aviators

The United States Air Force (USAF) presents a unique opportunity to investigate disease incidence, duration, and severity, through analysis of flyer medical records. This article describes the creation and analysis of a 15,275-record database of flyer-physician interactions, recorded over several years from 18 U.S. Air Force Bases. A descriptive analysis presents the leading causes of outpatient morbidity as measured by total days disqualified for flying duties (downtime). Upper respiratory infection (URI)/cold/congestion was the leading cause of illness, representing 4,485/15,700 visits with a median downtime of 6 d, and with 90% of the flyers allowed back into the cockpit within 15 d. A diagnosis coding system was developed specifically for this project that differs from the standard International Classification of Disease-Revision 9 (ICD-9 CM) (1) nomenclature. The rationale for such an approach is discussed.