Social jet lag and its influencing factors in helicopter pilots

Abstract

Objective To investigate the current status of social jet lag (SJL) in army helicopter pilots and explore its influencing factors. Methods Objective data, including SJL, sleep time, sleep quality, pressure and number of daily steps in the army aviators were collected by a smart watch from December 14 to 30 in 2021. Subjective data including socio-demographic and results of Pittsburgh sleep quality index scale (PSQI) were collected by self-developed sleep assessment APP. SPSS statistics 25.0 was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive analysis was adopted for measurement data, and frequency analysis was employed for enumerate data. Pearson correlation analysis and stepwise linear regression analysis were performed respectively to analyze the correlation of variables and the influencing factors for SJL. Results Finally, eligible data were collected from 33 male pilots. Their average SJL was 0.45±1.21 h, total PSQI score 6.64±2.70, total sleep duration 7.58±0.64 h, average pressure score 35.45±10.76, and average daily steps (11.0±2.5)×103 steps. The variables correlated with SJL were stress (r=0.45), insomnia severity (r=0.39), fatigue status (r=0.54), sleep efficiency (r=0.43), times of waking (r=0.52), daily steps (r=-0.39), and duration of deep sleep (r=-0.49) (all P < 0.05). The results of stepwise linear regression analysis suggested that fatigue, wakeup time during night, exercise, stress, marriage and smoking were related factors of SJL. Conclusion Helicopter pilots have severe SJL, with 39% of them having SJL longer than 1 h. Fatigue, poor nighttime sleep quality, stress, singleness and smoking can aggravate SJL, while exercise can attenuate SJL. Special attention should be paid to SJL evaluation for pilots in aviation health care.

Keywords

• social jet lag
• sleep quality
• wearable device
• stress
• exercise