A-202 A Normative Study of Neuropsychological Functioning in a Clinical Sample of Aviation Pilots

Abstract

Abstract Objective Neuropsychological evaluations are mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure that pilots with certain known or suspected medical/neurological or psychiatric conditions do not have neurocognitive sequelae that would impair their ability to safely carry out their responsibilities (Federal Aviation Administration, 2020). However, intact pilots’ performance on cognitive measures appears unique compared to the general population (Causse, Dehias, Arexis, & Pastor, 2011). In an effort to make appropriate comparisons, the current study thus presents normative data on the FAA core neuropsychological test battery. Method Sixty-three aviation pilots (age 25–62, M = 44.9, SD = 0.235) underwent neuropsychological testing using the FAA core battery following referral for alcohol utilization. All participants were considered to be cognitively intact at the time of their evaluations. Results Participants’ average IQ on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale 4th edition (WAIS-IV) fell in the Superior range using traditional norms (M = 125.29, SD = 10.04). Pilots performed better than “average” across a number of neuropsychological measures. For example, pilots completed Trails-A in 19.38 seconds (SD = 4.10) and Trails-B in 40.73 seconds (SD = 10.56), which is approximately 10 seconds faster than average among individuals aged 35–44 years. Meanwhile, pilots recalled an average of 15.08 out of 16 words on the California Verbal Learning Test Version 2 (CVLT-II) short delay and 15.34 words on the CVLT-II long delay. Conclusion(s) This study provides comparison data for future neuropsychological evaluations of pilots with alcohol concerns. The data suggests that pilots generally outperform the civilian population across neuropsychological tests.