Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2022 Apr 1;93(4):376-383. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.5823.2022.
The applicants' self-declaration of medical history is crucial for safety. Some evidence indicates that under-reporting of medical conditions exists. However, the magnitude in a population of aviation personnel has not been reported earlier. A total of 9941 applicants for medical certificate/attestation for aviation-related safety functions during the last 5 yr up to December 2019 were registered at the Civil Aviation Authority Norway. E-mail addresses were known for 9027 of these applicants, who were invited to participate in a web-based survey. Among the 1616 respondents, 726 (45%) were commercial pilots, 457 (28%) private pilots, 272 (17%) air traffic controllers, and the remaining were cabin crew or crew in aerodrome/helicopter flight information service (AFIS or HFIS, respectively). A total of 108 were initial applicants. The age group 50+ constituted the largest proportion of respondents (53%). Aeromedical certification in general was believed to improve flight safety "to a high" or "very high extent" by 64% of the respondents. A total of 188 individuals (12%) admitted having under-reported information related to one or more categories, including mental (3%) or physical health (4%), medications (2%), and drug use, including alcohol use (5%). Among these, 21 participants believed their own under-reporting "to some" or "to a high extent" affected flight safety. In total 50% of noninitial applicants reported that they knew colleagues who had under-reported information. Analyses revealed that being a commercial pilot showed a higher risk for under-reporting compared with other classes and the perception of aeromedical examiners in a supportive or authoritative role reduced the risk. Under-reporting of medical conditions could be significant in aviation. Further studies should be conducted to investigate the true extent of under-reporting and its impact on flight safety and what mitigating measures might be recommended.
申请人对病史的自我申报对安全至关重要。有证据表明，存在医疗状况漏报的情况。然而，以前并未报告过航空人员群体中的漏报程度。截至 2019 年 12 月的过去 5 年中，挪威民航局共登记了 9941 名申请航空安全相关医学证书/认证的人员。其中，9027 名申请人的电子邮件地址已知，他们被邀请参加一项基于网络的调查。在 1616 名答复者中，726 名（45%）是商业飞行员，457 名（28%）是私人飞行员，272 名（17%）是空中交通管制员，其余的是机组人员或机场/直升机飞行信息服务（AFIS 或 HFIS）的机组人员。共有 108 名初始申请人。年龄组 50+构成了最大比例的答复者（53%）。64%的答复者认为航空医学认证总体上“在很大程度上”或“非常大程度上”提高了飞行安全。共有 188 人（12%）承认在一个或多个类别中漏报了信息，包括精神（3%）或身体健康（4%）、药物（2%）以及药物使用，包括酒精使用（5%）。其中，21 名参与者认为自己的漏报“在一定程度上”或“在很大程度上”影响了飞行安全。共有 50%的非初始申请人报告说，他们认识那些漏报信息的同事。分析表明，与其他类别相比，商业飞行员报告漏报的风险更高，而航空医学检查员持支持或权威的角色感知降低了这种风险。航空领域的医疗状况漏报可能很严重。应进一步开展研究，以调查漏报的真实程度及其对飞行安全的影响，以及可能建议采取哪些缓解措施。
