Individual, work-, and flight-related issues in F-16 pilots reporting neck pain.
BACKGROUND
Neck pain is a common problem in F-16 pilots. A cross-sectional survey was used to determine the self-reported 1-yr prevalence of neck pain and to compare individual, work-related, and flight-related characteristics in F-16 pilots with and without neck pain.


METHODS
There were 90 male F-16 pilots of the Belgian Air Force and The Royal Netherlands Air Force who voluntarily completed an anonymous survey.


RESULTS
The 1-yr prevalence of neck pain was 18.9%. Pilots were divided into two groups: healthy (HG) and neck pain group (NPG). This study could not identify individual or specific flight-related differences between these two groups. High force demands, often sitting for a long time, frequently holding the neck in a forward bent posture, and being physically tired were all physical work-related factors that were reported significantly more often in the NPG. The NPG also reported significantly more psychosocial factors, such as being mentally tired at the end of the day and being annoyed by others at the workplace.


CONCLUSIONS
Since the specific flight-related factors were not significantly different between the HG and the NPG, physical and psychosocial factors could have been important factors in the development or maintenance of neck pain in F-16 pilots.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study highlight for the first time that, in addition to flight-related issues, other aspects must be considered in analyzing neck pain. These other aspects stress the importance of a broader approach when considering neck pain, even in this population that is exposed to very high loads during flight.
De Loose
Veerle
V
Belgian Defense, Medical Component, Military Hospital of Base Queen Astrid, Brussels, Belgium.
Van den Oord
Marieke
M
Burnotte
Frédéric
F
Van Tiggelen
Damien
D
Stevens
Veerle
V
Cagnie
Barbara
B
Witvrouw
Erik
E
Danneels
Lieven
L
D000401:Aircraft; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires