COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on the Well-Being of Professional Pilots.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the well-being of professional pilots using a survey that included the World Health Organization (WHO)-5 Well-Being Index.METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to pilots between June 17-August 2, 2021. Pilots self-categorized as: airline transport pilot (ATP), commercial pilot, or both. Chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were used to evaluate differences between variables. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of impaired well-being.RESULTS: A total of 639 individuals returned the survey. The majority of respondents were ATPs and a majority identified as male. The average well-being score was 68.0 out of 100 possible, with 22% of respondents meeting the threshold definition of impaired well-being. The odds of having impaired well-being were not dependent on gender. In unadjusted analysis, the odds of impaired well-being were higher for those flying as commercial pilots as compared to airline transport pilots/both. Age was also strongly associated with impaired well-being, with younger pilots having greater odds of impaired well-being as compared to older pilots. Only a little over half of the surveyed pilots agreed or strongly agreed that pilot risk of occupational exposure to COVID-19 was appropriately controlled.CONCLUSION: This survey suggests an important connection between pilot age and impaired well-being scores during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies targeting the well-being of younger pilots will be of interest. Additionally, measures to reduce occupational risk of COVID-19 exposure may be helpful in view of the substantial fraction of pilots expressing concern regarding that risk.Stratton E, Haddon R, Murad MH, Petterson T, Nelson M, Cowl CT. COVID-19 pandemic effects on the well-being of professional pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2022; 93(10):734-738.

SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Impacts on NASA Ground Operations to Protect ISS Astronauts.

NASA implements required medical tests and clinical monitoring to ensure the health and safety of its astronauts. These measures include a pre-launch quarantine to mitigate the risk of infectious diseases. During space missions, most astronauts experience perturbations to their immune system that manifest as a detectable secondary immunodeficiency. On return to Earth, after the stress of re-entry and landing, astronauts would be most vulnerable to infectious disease. In April 2020, a crew returned from International Space Station to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Post-flight quarantine protocols (both crew and contacts) were enhanced to protect this crew from SARS-CoV-2. In addition, specific additional clinical monitoring was performed to determine post-flight immunocompetence. Given that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prognosis is more severe for the immunocompromised, a countermeasures protocol for spaceflight suggested by an international team of scientists could benefit terrestrial patients with secondary immunodeficiency.