Work and sleep hours of U.S. Army aviation personnel working reverse cycle.
A one-page questionnaire was administered to 157 aviation personnel from three Army posts to determine when Army aviation personnel work and sleep while on reverse cycle. This project was undertaken as a first step to developing tailor-made fatigue reduction strategies for shift workers in Army aviation. The results indicated that 97.6% of the surveyed aviation personnel had experience working night shift/reverse cycle at some point in their careers, with 69.4% working the night shift within the past 6 months. Of those who had experience working the night shift, 36.2% reported usually working from early in the afternoon to early in the morning, with 52.2% of personnel returning home by 4:00 a.m.; however, 28.3% arrived home after 8:00 a.m. Almost 62% of the respondents indicated that they did not feel they received adequate daytime sleep some of the time or at all while on reverse cycle/night shift. Research is needed to address the issue of helping aviation personnel sleep during the daylight hours, both for training exercises and for deployment. Once the work/rest schedule for a unit is known, countermeasures such as light therapy or gradual changes in scheduling can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual or unit.
Aircrew Health and Performance Division, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Fort Rucker, AL 36362-0577, USA.
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Caldwell
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Gilreath
D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000407:Alabama; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky; D008889:Military Personnel; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D012890:Sleep; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors