Van den Oord Marieke H A H, De Loose Veerle, Sluiter Judith K, Frings-Dresen Monique H W
Center for Man in Aviation, The Royal Netherlands Air Force, Soesterberg, The Netherlands.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 2010 Jan;81(1):46-51. doi: 10.3357/asem.2602.2010.
Neck pain in military helicopter pilots and rear aircrew is an occupational health problem that may interfere with flying performance. The aim of the present study was to investigate possible differences in the physical abilities of the cervical spines of helicopter pilots and rear aircrew with and without neck pain during the previous year.
The study included 61 male helicopter pilots and 22 rear aircrew without neck pain (Sx-) and 17 pilots and 17 rear aircrew with neck pain (Sx+). Active cervical range of motion (flexion-extension, right-left rotation, and right-left lateral flexion), neck position sense (reposition error back to neutral and defined positions after submaximal cervical movement), and maximum isometric neck muscle strength (flexion, extension, and right and left lateral flexion) were measured. Two-way factorial analyses of variance were performed, in which the fixed factors were occupation (pilot or rear aircrew) and neck pain state (Sx+ or Sx-).
On average, there was a trend toward lower values in strength [extension: 55 (19) Nm vs. 58 (20) Nm; flexion 22 (8) Nm vs. 24 (12) Nm] and smaller cervical range of motion [flexion-extension: 132 degrees (19 degrees) vs. 137 degrees (15 degrees); rotation: 156 degrees (14 degrees) vs. 160 degrees (14 degrees)] in the total Sx+ crew, compared to their Sx- colleagues. However, the two-way factorial ANOVA revealed neither significant main effects nor significant interaction effects in any of the measured physical abilities.
The results suggest that having experienced neck pain was not significantly associated with differences in the physical abilities of the cervical spines of helicopter crew, as assessed in this study.
军事直升机飞行员和后舱机组人员的颈部疼痛是一个职业健康问题，可能会影响飞行表现。本研究的目的是调查过去一年中有或没有颈部疼痛的直升机飞行员和后舱机组人员颈椎身体能力的可能差异。
该研究包括61名无颈部疼痛的男性直升机飞行员和22名后舱机组人员（Sx-），以及17名有颈部疼痛的飞行员和17名后舱机组人员（Sx+）。测量了颈椎的主动活动范围（屈伸、左右旋转和左右侧屈）、颈部位置觉（在次最大颈椎运动后回到中立和特定位置的复位误差）以及最大等长颈部肌肉力量（屈伸、左右侧屈）。进行了双向析因方差分析，其中固定因素为职业（飞行员或后舱机组人员）和颈部疼痛状态（Sx+或Sx-）。
总体而言，与Sx-的同事相比，Sx+组的力量[伸展：55（19）牛米对58（20）牛米；屈曲：22（8）牛米对24（12）牛米]和颈椎活动范围[屈伸：132度（19度）对137度（15度）；旋转：156度（14度）对160度（14度）]平均有降低的趋势。然而，双向析因方差分析显示，在任何测量的身体能力方面，既没有显著的主效应，也没有显著的交互效应。
结果表明，在本研究评估中，经历过颈部疼痛与直升机机组人员颈椎身体能力的差异没有显著关联。
