Percheron Madeleine, Prouvost-Keller Bernard, Allouche Jonathan, Benoit Michel, Pradier Christian
Département de Santé Publique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Nice, France.
Université Côte d'Azur, CoBTeK Laboratory, CHU de Nice, France.
Front Public Health. 2025 May 23;13:1514812. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1514812. eCollection 2025.
The German wings crash highlighted the need to better understand the mental health of airline pilots. Airline pilots are exposed to psychosocial risks, and they may constitute a population at risk of developing anxiety and depressive disorders. However, mental health remains difficult to assess in this population due to the risk of being declared unfit to fly. Scientific studies on mental disorders in airline pilots are rare, and the results are heterogeneous. To date, no study has been conducted describing anxiety or depressive disorders among European airline pilots.
We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using an anonymous online self-questionnaire. Pilots were recruited from the National Union of Airline Pilots between September 1 and October 16, 2022.
Out of the 1,220 pilots surveyed, 25.4% of them suffered from anxiety according to the Hospital and Depression Scale (HAD): 14.4% suspected anxiety disorders and 11.0% confirmed anxiety disorders. Additionally, 13.1% of subjects reported depressive symptoms, including 8.9% suspected depressive disorders and 4.2% confirmed depressive disorders, according to the HAD. More than a third of the sample (40.1%) showed alcohol misuse.
This study represents a major advancement in understanding the mental health of European airline pilots. This work highlights the need to implement prevention programs targeting profiles at risk of developing anxiety and/or depressive disorders. Our study also showed that a large proportion of subjects exhibited alcohol misuse, which requires prevention efforts to reduce health risks. In the future, conducting longitudinal studies would further strengthen our knowledge on this topic.
德国之翼航空客机坠毁事件凸显了更好地了解航空公司飞行员心理健康状况的必要性。航空公司飞行员面临社会心理风险，他们可能是罹患焦虑症和抑郁症的高危人群。然而，由于存在被宣布不适宜飞行的风险，该人群的心理健康状况仍难以评估。关于航空公司飞行员精神障碍的科学研究很少，且结果参差不齐。迄今为止，尚未有研究描述欧洲航空公司飞行员中的焦虑症或抑郁症情况。
我们使用匿名在线自填问卷进行了一项描述性横断面研究。2022年9月1日至10月16日期间，从全国航空公司飞行员联盟招募飞行员。
在接受调查的1220名飞行员中，根据医院焦虑抑郁量表（HAD），25.4%的人患有焦虑症：14.4%疑似焦虑症，11.0%确诊焦虑症。此外，根据HAD，13.1%的受试者报告有抑郁症状，其中8.9%疑似抑郁症，4.2%确诊抑郁症。超过三分之一的样本（40.1%）存在酒精滥用问题。
这项研究在了解欧洲航空公司飞行员心理健康方面取得了重大进展。这项工作凸显了实施针对有发展成焦虑症和/或抑郁症风险人群的预防项目的必要性。我们的研究还表明，很大一部分受试者存在酒精滥用问题，这需要开展预防工作以降低健康风险。未来，进行纵向研究将进一步加强我们对这一主题的认识。
