Recurrent On-Duty Sleepiness and Alertness Management Strategies in Long-Haul Airline Pilots

The authors examined whether long-haul airline pilots without recurrent on-duty sleepiness obtain more prior sleep and use more effective in-flight alertness management strategies than their colleagues with recurrent on-duty sleepiness. There were 51 pilots who flew at least twice from Helsinki to Asia. Of them, 44 flew at least twice back to Helsinki following 1 local night. On-duty sleepiness was measured by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), alertness management strategies by a diary, and sleep by a diary and activity monitor. Pilots who rated KSS ≥ 7 on each, some, or none of the flights were classified as ”regularly”, “sometimes”, and “never” sleepy, respectively. This classification was performed separately for the outbound and inbound flights. On the outbound flights, 22% of the pilots were “never”, 54% “sometimes”, and 24% “regularly” sleepy. For the inbound flights, the respective distribution was 25%, 48%, and 27%. Compared to the “regularly” sleepy group, the “never” sleepy group obtained 54 min more night sleep prior to the outbound flights. For the inbound flights, the respective difference was 1 h 23 min. Also, the “never” sleepy pilots slept 31 min more between days off than the ”regularly” sleepy pilots. The results of the in-flight alertness management strategies were mixed. The study demonstrates that pilots without recurrent on-duty sleepiness obtain more sleep than their colleagues with recurrent on-duty sleepiness. The result emphasizes the need to investigate whether the sleep of recurrently sleepy pilots can be increased and whether this increase would reduce their on-duty sleepiness.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.3357/AMHP.5092.2018
• Record URL:
  • https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/amhp/2018/00000089/00000007/art00005
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/23756314
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of the Aerospace Medical Association.
• Authors:
  • Sallinen, Mikael
  • Åkerstedt, Torbjörn
  • Härmä, Mikko
  • Henelius, Andreas
  • Ketola, Kimmo
  • Leinikka, Marianne
  • Kecklund, Göran
  • Sihvola, Maria
  • Tuori, Antti
  • Virkkala, Jussi
  • Puttonen, Sampsa
• Publication Date: 2018-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 601-608
• Serial:
  • Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance
  • Volume: 89
  • Issue Number: 7
  • Publisher: Aerospace Medical Association
  • ISSN: 2375-6314
  • EISSN: 2375-6322
  • Serial URL: http://ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airline pilots; Drowsiness; Hours of labor; Sleep; Sleep deprivation; Trip length
• Non-Preferred Terms: Haul distance
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01682365
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 28 2018 3:01PM