Preemployment and periodic physical examination of airline pilots at the Mayo clinic, 1939-1974.
A descriptive study of medical disqualifications and deaths in an airline pilot population revealed that, of 2,751 pilot applicants, 145 (5.3%) were rejected by the preemployment company medical examination. Of the 145, 117 were rejected because of a primary disqualifying "laboratory" abnormality. During the lifetime of the airline, 103 pilots have retired because of medical reasons, primarily cardiovascular, and 120 have died, the majority in aircraft accidents. The rate of medical disqualification is minimal before the age of 45 years, but it increases rapidly thereafter. By use of the actuarial survivorship method, it was determined that the chance of a pilot reaching retirement age in this airline company was less than 50%, although his chance of not reaching retirement age because of medical reasons was only 20%. Based on the results of this study, a departure from the "traditional" periodic company medical examination program is suggested.
D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D001359:Aviation; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D004651:Employment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D010808:Physical Examination; D010809:Physical Fitness; D014481:United States