Anthropometry of Brazilian Air Force pilots.

Anthropometric data are essential for the design of military equipment including sizing of aircraft cockpits and personal gear. Currently, there are no anthropometric databases specific to Brazilian military personnel. The aim of this study was to create a Brazilian anthropometric database of Air Force pilots. The methods, protocols, descriptions, definitions, landmarks, tools and measurements procedures followed the instructions outlined in Measurer's Handbook: US Army and Marine Corps Anthropometric Surveys, 2010-2011 - NATICK/TR-11/017. The participants were measured countrywide, in all five Brazilian Geographical Regions. Thirty-nine anthropometric measurements related to cockpit design were selected. The results of 2133 males and 206 females aged 16-52 years constitute a set of basic data for cockpit design, space arrangement issues and adjustments, protective gear and equipment design, as well as for digital human modelling. Another important implication is that this study can be considered a starting point for reducing gender bias in women's career as pilots. Practitioner Summary: This paper describes the first large-scale anthropometric survey of the Brazilian Air Force pilots and the development of the related database. This study provides critical data for improving aircraft cockpit design for ergonomics and comprehensive pilot accommodation, protective gear and uniform design, as well as digital human modelling.

Anthropometric change: implications for office ergonomics.

Well-designed office workspaces require good anthropometric data in order to accommodate variability in the worker population. The recent obesity epidemic carries with it a number of anthropometric changes that have significant impact on design. We examine anthropometric change among US civilians over the last 50 years, and then examine that change in a subset of the US population--the US military--as military data sets often have more ergonomic dimensions than civilian ones. The civilian mean stature increased throughout the period 1962 to 2006 for both males and females. However, the rate of increase in mean weight was considerably faster. As a result, the male obesity rate changed from 10.7% in 1962 to 31.3% in 2006. The female change for the same period was 15.8% to 33.2%. In the Army, the proportion of obesity increased from 3.6% to 20.9%, in males. In the absence of national US ergonomic data, we demonstrate one approach to tracking civilian change in these dimensions, applying military height/weight regression equations to the civilian population estimates. This approach is useful for population monitoring but is not suitable for establishing new design limits, as regression estimates likely underestimate the change at the ends of the distribution.

Secular trends of 22 body dimensions in four racial/cultural groups of American males.

Data from the recent U.S. Army Anthropometric Survey provide a unique opportunity to assess long-term changes in body dimensions within the Army population. This report considers secular trends for 22 body dimensions within four racial/cultural groups: Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Individuals were grouped by year of birth into 5 year cohorts, spanning 1911 to 1970. Rates of secular change were calculated by regressing age-adjusted dimensions against birth year cohort. Results showed that almost all dimensions sustained statistically significant linear trends, the few exceptions occurring in Asian/Pacific Islanders. The greatest rates of change occurred in dimensions related to soft tissues rather than skeletal dimensions. This pattern is consistent with recent American cultural emphasis on health and physical fitness. The causes of the observed trends, insofar as they have been identified, are related to cultural processes. This suggests that biological forces play a diminished role in shaping the patterns of secular change. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to study secular change in groups that are culturally, rather than biologically, defined.

Interobserver error in a large scale anthropometric survey.

The adverse effects of interobserver error on morphometric population comparisons are well documented in the literature. While interobserver error can rarely be avoided, it can be minimized by having a single individual locate and mark relevant landmarks, by limiting the number of observers for each variable, and by reviewing repeated measures data daily to catch and correct measurer drift during data collection. In this study, two pairs of experts participated in interobserver error trials designed to pre-set observer error limits for use in the quality control of a large scale anthropometric survey. Repeatability data were also collected twice daily in the field and reviewed with the measurers. Interobserver errors obtained in the field were lower than those achieved by the experts for 27 of 30 dimensions. These results suggest that establishment of permissible interobserver error in advance of data collection and frequent review of repeated measurements during data collection can reduce the magnitude of interobserver error below that obtained by experts measuring in a laboratory setting. However, even differences of small magnitude can be serios when they are directional, and 17 of 30 dimensions exhibited statistically significant bias between measurers despite all quality control efforts. The magnitudes of interobserver error observed in this study have proven particularly useful in evaluating the biological relevance of statistically significant differences which are of relatively small magnitude.