Rest and Activity Patterns of Army Aviators in Routine and Operational Training Environments

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue continues to be a leading cause of military aviation mishaps. Several factors, including reversed shift missions, can negatively affect sleep patterns and increase the risk of fatigue due to sleep restriction. Currently, there is a lack of objective data regarding the current rest and activity patterns of military aviators across multiple operational conditions. The purpose of this descriptive study was to document the rest and activity patterns of U.S. Army aviators in operational training and garrison (routine) environments using wrist-worn actigraphy devices.METHODS: Actigraphy data were collected from U.S. Army aviators in training (N = 20) and garrison (N = 77) environments for a period of 1 wk.RESULTS: Results from this study indicate that 90% of subjects in the training environment, even after accounting for small sleep bouts during the day, averaged less than the recommended 8 h of sleep daily across the recording week. Approximately half of subjects in garrison averaged less than 8 h of sleep daily after accounting for smaller sleep bouts. Sleep efficiency was relatively high and similar in both groups (∼84%). Subjects in the training group averaged significantly more time awake and less time sleeping than those in the routine garrison group. Moreover, subjects in training were exposed to more light during sleep than those in garrison.DISCUSSION: Training environments that are representative of deployed conditions restrict aviator restorative sleep. These results highlight the importance of continued research on aviator sleep and fatigue mitigation in operational environments.Bernhardt KA, Kelley AM, Feltman KA, Curry IP. Rest and activity patterns of Army aviators in routine and operational training environments. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2019; 90(1):48–52.