Gander Philippa H, Mulrine Hannah M, van den Berg Margo J, Smith A Alexander T, Signal T Leigh, Wu Lora J, Belenky Gregory
Sleep/Wake Research Centre, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 2014 Aug;85(8):833-40. doi: 10.3357/ASEM.3963.2014.
Flight timing is expected to influence pilot fatigue because it determines the part of the circadian body clock cycle that is traversed during a flight. However the effects of flight timing are not well-characterized because field studies typically focus on specific flights with a limited range of departure times and have small sample sizes. The present project combined data from four studies, including 13 long-range and ultra-long range out-and-back trips across a range of departure and arrival times (237 pilots in 4-person crews, 730 flight segments, 1-3 d layovers).
All studies had tripartite support and underwent independent ethical review. Sleep was monitored (actigraphy) from 3 d prior to ≥ 3 d post-trip. Preflight and at top of descent (TOD), pilots rated their sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) and fatigue (Samn-Perelli scale), and completed a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) test. Mixed model ANOVA identified independent associations between fatigue measures and operational factors (domicile times of departure and arrival, flight duration and direction, landing versus relief crew).
Preflight subjective fatigue and sleepiness were lowest for flights departing 14:00-17:59. Total in-flight sleep was longest on flights departing 18:00-01:59. At TOD, fatigue and sleepiness were higher and PVT response speeds were slower on flights arriving 06:00-09:59 than on flights arriving later. PVT response speed at TOD was also faster on longer flights.
The findings indicate the influence of flight timing (interacting with the circadian body clock cycle), as well as flight duration, on in-flight sleep and fatigue measures at TOD.
飞行时间预计会影响飞行员疲劳，因为它决定了飞行过程中所经历的昼夜生物钟周期的阶段。然而，飞行时间的影响尚未得到充分表征，因为实地研究通常集中在出发时间范围有限的特定航班上，且样本量较小。本项目整合了四项研究的数据，包括13次往返的远程和超远程飞行，涵盖了一系列出发和到达时间（4人机组中的237名飞行员，730个航段，1 - 3天的中途停留）。
所有研究均获得三方支持，并接受了独立的伦理审查。在旅行前3天至旅行后≥3天期间，通过活动记录仪监测睡眠情况。在飞行前和下降顶点（TOD），飞行员对他们的嗜睡程度（卡罗林斯卡嗜睡量表）和疲劳程度（萨姆恩 - 佩雷利量表）进行评分，并完成一项心理运动警觉任务（PVT）测试。混合模型方差分析确定了疲劳测量值与操作因素（出发地和目的地的当地时间、飞行持续时间和方向、着陆机组与换班机组）之间的独立关联。
对于14:00 - 17:59出发的航班，飞行前的主观疲劳和嗜睡程度最低。18:00 - 01:59出发的航班上，飞行中的总睡眠时间最长。在TOD时，06:00 - 09:59到达的航班比晚些到达的航班疲劳和嗜睡程度更高，PVT反应速度更慢。较长航班在TOD时的PVT反应速度也更快。
研究结果表明飞行时间（与昼夜生物钟周期相互作用）以及飞行持续时间对飞行中的睡眠和TOD时的疲劳测量值有影响。
