Meta-analysis of prevalence in Chinese civil aviation pilots

Abstract

Objective To evaluate and analyze the prevalence of various diseases in Chinese civil aviation pilots, and to provide the basis of improving the fitness of pilots. Methods The information of physical examinations of civil aviation pilots up to June of 2016 was extracted from the literatures included by CBM, China Journal Fulltext Database, China Scientific Journal Database and Wanfang Data. Open Meta [Analyst] software was used to incorporate the single rate and the outcomes were expressed as prevalence and 95% CI, and to analyze the subgroups according to different characteristics of pilots. STATA software was used for publication bias. Results Twenty-six literatures were included for meta-analysis and 122 424 persons involved (aging from 16 to 73 yr). The diseases were mainly cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases, eye diseases and abnormal blood biochemical indexes. The Meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of various diseases in Chinese civil aviation pilots were: hypertension 9.2% (95% CI was 7.1%-11.4%, I2=98%), overweight and obesity 42.2% (95% CI was 29.0%-55.5%, I2=100%), dyslipidemia 38.2% (95% CI was 24.1%-52.4%, I2=100%), in which the prevalence of TG was 28.0% (I2=98%), TC was 19.9% (I2=99%), HDL-C was 23.4% (I2=97%), and LDL-C was 19.3% (I2=98%). The prevalence of hyperglycemia and hyperuricemia was respectively 3.1% (95% CI was 0.7%-5.6%, I2=95%) and 22.6% (95% CI was 18.5%-26.6%, I2=79%). The prevalence of fatty liver and gallbladder polyp was respectively 20.2% (95% CI was 10.4%-30.0%, I2=98%) and 5.2% (95% CI was 4.7%-5.8%, I2=0%). The prevalence of cataracts and poor vision was respectively 0.2% (95% CI was 0.1%-0.3%, I2=80%) and 9.4% (95% CI was 9.0%-9.7%, I2=0%). 10.2% pilots were diagnosed as hearing loss (I2=54%). Pilots at different age had different prevalence of hypertension. Conclusions The high incidences of overweight/obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia, fatty liver and hypertension are found in Chinese civil aviation pilots, and these suggest the importance of countermeasures for improving their healthiness. Key words: Physical examination; Prevalence rate; Meta-analysis; Pilots