Study on the correlation between fatigue and social support among aviators

Abstract

Objective To investigate the correlation between fatigue and social support among aviators.Methods Five hundred and fifty-eight aviators were evaluated by using fatigue assessment instrument (FAI) and social support rating scale( SSRS),and the obtained data were analyzed with SPSS 15.0.Results With regard to the severity of fatigue,no significant differences could be detected between the aviators and the normal healthy group,nevertheless,it was significantly less serious than that of the people with chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS),as seen from literary reports (t =-41.95,P ＜ 0.01 ).There were statistical differences in the severity of fatigue ( F =5.10,P ＜ 0.01 ) and situational specificity ( F =3.80,P ＜ 0.05 ) among aviators flying different military aircraft,with the severity of fatigue among fighter pilots being obviously lower than that of the aviators flying helicopters and bombers.Situational specificity of the aviators flying bombers was significantly higher than that of the aviators flying transports.There were significant differences in the situational specificity among different occupational aviators( F =5.22,P.＜ 0.01 ),of whom the situational specificity of mechanics tended to be obviously lower.Obviously,the severity of fatigue among aviators was negatively correlated'with social support ( r =-0.20,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions The severity and feature of fatigue were closely correlated with social support among aviators. Key words: Aviator; Fatigue; Social support