Working hours associated with unintentional sleep at work among airline pilots

Marqueze, Elaine Cristina; Nicola, Ana Carolina B; Diniz, Dag Hammarskjoeld M D; Fischer, Frida Marina

doi:10.1590/S1518-8787.2017051006329

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Original Articles • Rev. Saúde Pública 51 • 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1518-8787.2017051006329 linkcopy

Working hours associated with unintentional sleep at work among airline pilots

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE Tto identify factors associated with unintentional sleep at work of airline pilots.

METHODS This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted with 1,235 Brazilian airline pilots, who work national or international flights. Data collection has been performed online. We carried out a bivariate and multiple logistic regression analysis, having as dependent variable unintentional sleep at work. The independent variables were related to biodemographic data, characteristics of the work, lifestyle, and aspects of sleep.

RESULTS The prevalence of unintentional sleep while flying the airplane was 57.8%. The factors associated with unintentional sleep at work were: flying for more than 65 hours a month, frequent technical delays, greater need for recovery after work, work ability below optimal, insufficient sleep, and excessive sleepiness.

CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of unintentional sleep at work of airline pilots is associated with factors related to the organization of the work and health.

Aviation; Human Resources; Sleep Deprivation; Epidemiology; Working Conditions; Shift Work; Occupational Health

Variable	n	Average	SD
Flight hours (hours/month)	1,231	64.8	10.8
Hours of standby (hours/month)	1,157	9.2	6.6
Hours of on call (hours/month)	1,164	22.3	15.3
Commuting time from the residence to the contractual basis for the pilots who do not reside in the same location of the basis (min)	645	161.4	121.5
Commuting time from the residence to the contractual basis for the pilots who reside in the same location of the basis (min)	566	58.2	43.4
Commuting time hotel x airport (min)	1,230	41.1	25.0
Working hours – day shift (hours)	1,198	8.8	1.4
Working hours – afternoon shift (hours)	1,127	8.0	1.7
Working hours – night shift (hours)	1,160	7.8	2.4
Number of days off per month (days/month)	1,234	9.2	1.4
Maximum number of consecutive days of work	1,226	6.1	1.2
Maximum number of consecutive nights of work	1,187	4.0	2.4
Maximum number of working hours in the same day	1,193	4.9	1.1
Time working in the night shift (years)	558	9.6	7.7

Hours	n	%
Start of work in the day shift
From 12 a.m. to 4h59 a.m.	220	18.4
From 5 a.m. to 5h59 a.m.	584	48.7
From 6 a.m. to 6h59 a.m.	254	21.2
From 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.	140	11.7
End of work in the afternoon shift
From 4 p.m. to 9h59 p.m.	403	35.8
From 10 p.m. to 11h59 p.m.	562	49.9
From 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.	162	14.3
Start of work in the night shift
From 2 p.m. to 9h59 p.m.	687	59.3
From 10 p.m. to 11h59 p.m.	393	33.9
From 12 a.m. to 1h59 a.m.	44	3.8
From 2 a.m. to 4h30 a.m.	35	3.0
End of work in the night shift
Before 5h a.m.	598	51.6
From 5h01 a.m. to 8 a.m.	423	36.5
From 8h01 a.m. to 12 p.m.	127	11.0
From 12h01 p.m. to 4 p.m.	10	0.9

Variable	Category	%	OR	95%CI	adj OR^a,b	95%CI
Factors related to work

Responsibility for family income	Shared with someone	52.4	1
	Alone	47.6	1.07	0.84–1.35
Work shift	Day	5.6	1
	In legs that involve nights	94.4	1.53	0.94–2.49
Flight routes	National	90.8	1
	International	9.2	1.78	1.17–2.71
Time working in the night shift	Does not work all night	54.8	1
	1 to 5 years	17.8	1.12	0.83–1.52
	6 to 10 years	13.3	1.49	1.05–2.12
	11 to 15 years	5.5	2.80	1.57–5.01
	16 years or more	8.6	1.75	1.14–2.69
Monthly flight hours	Up to 65 hours	47.0	1		1
	66 hours or more	53.0	2.19	1.74–2.76	1.78	1.38–2.29
Maximum number of consecutive days of work	Up to 6 days	81.6	1
	7 days or more	18.4	2.33	1.69–3.21
Maximum number of consecutive nights of work	One or two nights	17.2	1
	Three or four nights	56.4	1.23	0.90–1.69
	Five or more nights	26.4	1.60	1.12–2.29
Average days off per month	10 days or more	41.7	1
	Up to 9 days	58.3	1.71	1.36–2.15
Frequency of operational flight delays	Never, rarely, or sometimes	59.4	1		1
	Frequently or always	40.6	2.06	1.62–2.61	1.45	1.11–1.89
Commuting time between hotel and airport	Up to 42 minutes	68.8	1
	42 minutes or more	31.2	1.55	1.21–1.99

Aspects of sleep

How do you sleep?	Very well or well	51.9	1
	Neither well, nor bad	37.5	1.63	1.28–2.09
	Fairly or very bad	10.6	2.87	1.88–4.38
Do you sleep enough?	Yes	68.9	1		1
	No	31.1	2.20	1.70–2.84	1.44	1.07–1.94
Quality of the hotel to sleep (noise, lighting, and thermal and physical comfort)	Above average	51.8	1
	Below average	48.2	1.47	1.17–1.84
Quality of the sleeping cabin in the airplane (noise, lighting, and thermal and physical comfort)	Above average	47.7	1
	Below average	52.3	1.34	1.07–1.69
Index of problems to wake up	No	82.3	1
	Yes	17.7	2.28	1.65–3.16
Sleep quality index	Good	92.4	1
	Bad	7.6	2.49	1.52–4.08
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome	Low chance of developing	79.7	1
	High chance of developing	20.3	2.03	1.50–2.74
Epworth score	Low sleepiness	58.1	1		1
	Excessive sleepiness	41.9	2.80	2.20–3.57	2.09	1.60–2.72

Health

Scale of the need for recovery after work	Less need	31.8	1		1
	Moderate need	34.7	1.72	1.30–2.26	1.06	0.77–1.47
	Greater need	33.5	3.30	2.46–4.42	1.49	1.04–2.16
Work ability index	Great	33.7	1		1
	Good	45.7	2.20	1.70–2.85	1.52	1.13–2.04
	Moderate	18.2	3.94	2.76–5.63	2.15	1.43–3.23
	Low	2.4	8.95	3.07–26.11	4.80	1.57–14.67

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[TFN1] ^a Adjusted for age, education, gender, marital status, and position

[TFN2] ^b Hosmer-Lemeshow = 0.94

[TFN3] Values with statistical significance are presented in bold.