Workload and cortisol levels in helicopter combat pilots during simulated flights
| Autor: | Alexandre García-Mas, J. Ponseti, David Cárdenas, C. de Teresa, Enrique Ortega |
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| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Helicópteros de combate Pilotos lcsh:Special situations and conditions lcsh:Medicine Workload Audiology Anxiety Flight simulator 050105 experimental psychology Cortisol Combat helicopters Task (project management) Ansiedad 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Physiology (medical) medicine 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Ansiedade lcsh:Sports medicine Cortisol level Carga de trabajo Salivary cortisol Voos simulados lcsh:RC952-1245 05 social sciences lcsh:R 030229 sport sciences Simulated flights Carga de trabalho Somatic anxiety Pilots Vuelos simulados medicine.symptom Psychology lcsh:RC1200-1245 |
| Zdroj: | ResearcherID Revista Andaluza de Medicina del Deporte, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 7-11 (2016) Revista Andaluza de Medicina del Deporte v.9 n.1 2016 SciELO España. Revistas Científicas Españolas de Ciencias de la Salud instname |
| Popis: | Objective Examine and compare the cortisol levels before and after a simulated flight related to workload in experienced helicopter combat pilots, searching for physiological levels of anxiety. Method 15 volunteer Spanish Army helicopter combat pilots (36.83 ± 8.04 years) were studied before and after a simulated flight (eight new tasks). Salivary cortisol was measured by DRG salivary cortisol ELISA, and we studied workload using the NASA-TLX. Results The differences in the mean values of cortisol level before (5.33 ± 1.55) and after the task at the flight simulator (4.47 ± 0.73) are statistically significant (t14 = 3.301; p = .005) with a high effect size (d = 0.75). Similar significant differences were also found (t14 = 3.301; p = .005) between the workload before (19.76 ± 10.54), and after the task (24.82 ± 10.42; medium effect size d = −0.48). No significant relationships were found between the cortisol levels and the workload. Conclusions Cortisol levels in saliva and workload are the usual in stress situations, and change inversely: workload increases at the end of the task, whereas the cortisol levels decrease after the simulated flight. The somatic anxiety decreases as the task is done. In contrast, when the pilots are faced with new and demanding tasks, even if they fly this type of helicopter in different conditions, the workload increases toward the end of the task. From an applied point of view, these findings should impact the tactical, physical and mental training of such pilots. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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