Respiratory function parameters of Turkish jet pilots
Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences, cilt.29, sa.5, ss.1168-1171, 2009 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 29 Sayı: 5
- Basım Tarihi: 2009
- Dergi Adı: Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1168-1171
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Hypoxia, respiratory function test
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective: Aim; Jet aircraft pilots, in acute manner, sustain many physiological and dynamic changes during the course of flight. The respiratory system takes the lead among those systems that have been inflicted with such changes. The changes in the lung and pleural pressures, occurrence of ventilation and perfusion imbalance, sometimes the development of linear atelectasises associated with this imbalance and the raising of respiration frequency after the tidal volume got declined, are considered to be the primary pulmonary changes. As a rule of flight physiology, the fliers sustain a "G" force. This force is rather a positive G but also partly turns into a negative "G" load. Nevertheless, the pilots when they have been inflicted with a hypoxia during the course of flight, occasionally receive oxygen at a level 100%. In regard with the respiratory function test parameters of jet aircraft pilots, we have planned this retrospective study with a view to find out their exact levels of getting affected at the end of cumulative flights. Material and Methods: Together with the inclusion of 162 jet aircraft pilots, a control group consisting of 65 healthy subjects who were not suffering from any known obstructive or restrictive diseases, were included in this study. By taking into consideration that also the smoking has an adverse effect on the respiratory function, three groups were set up in respect with a sound statistics. These three groups which are sorted as the one that comprised the smoker and non-smoker pilots and the other one that comprised the non-smoker pilots and non-smoker healthy subjects, with respect to the spirometric parameters, were compared with each other. This spirometric evaluation was performed by taking into accounts the factors such as age, gender, height and weight. Results: When the comparison made among the smoker pilots and healthy subjects, all spirometric parameters with the exception of FEV1 differed significantly. No statistically significant difference has been observed in non-smoker pilots and non-smoker control group. All spirometric parameters of smoker pilots had displayed a significant decline but this decline was not sufficient to establish a diagnosis of airway obstruction. Conclusion: We concluded that the cumulative effect of flight, in respect with the spirometric evaluation, did not cause any negative or positive change on the respiratory functions but the smoker pilots, when compared with the non-smoker pilots, were faced with a small airway obstruction at a meaningful rate. Copyright © 2009 by Türkiye Klinikleri.