Cardiovascular disease among U.S. Navy pilots.

This study's objectives were to determine the influence of age and occupational factors on cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence among U.S. Navy pilots diagnosed with CVD during a 12.5-year time period (n = 150) and to identify precursory diseases associated with CVD. Results showed a relationship between CVD and age; pilots, on the average, were more than 3 years younger at the time of CVD onset than other officers. No occupational factor was associated with CVD; fighter pilots had the highest rates of acute myocardial infarction and chronic ischemic heart disease. Angina pectoris was observed as a precursory disease of chronic ischemic heart disease, and several behaviorally related disorders (e.g., alcoholism) occurred with hypertension. Subsequent research should include all U.S. military pilots to examine, in a larger population, the influence on CVD of such occupational factors as flight in high-performance aircraft. An intervention program should be implemented to modify the lifestyles of pilots who had been hospitalized for hypertension and/or such conditions as obesity and alcoholism.