Early starts and late finishes both reduce alertness and performance among short-haul airline pilots.

ABSTRACT: Flight crews are frequently required to work irregular schedules and, as a result, can experience sleep deficiency and fatigue. This study was conducted to determine whether perceived fatigue levels and objective performance varied by time of day, time awake, and prior night's sleep duration. Ninety-five pilots (86 male, 9 female) aged 33 years (±8) volunteered for the study. Participants completed a daily sleep diary, Samn-Perelli fatigue scale, and psychomotor vigilance task that were completed before and after each flight duty period and at the top-of-descent for each flight. Pilots experienced higher self-reported fatigue (EMM = 3.92, SE = 0.09, p < 0.001) and worse performance (Response speed: EMM = 4.27, SE = 0.08, p = 0.004) for late-finishing duties compared with early-starting dut

SUBMITTER: Arsintescu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9286802 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature