Meta-analysis of disease spectrum of mental and neurological diseases among flight personnel between PLAAF and USAF

WANG Guangyun; JI Tuo; CUI Li; DU Siming; ZHANG Ling

Abstract：Objective To find out about the mental and neurological diseases among flight personnel in PLAAF and USAF using literature Meta-analysis in order to provide evidence-based reference for related studies.Methods Literature related to this field was retrieved from medical bibliographic databases and foreign military official websites, such as CHKD, CNKI, Wan Fang medical network and the United States government science and technology report full text database (National Technical Reports Library,NTRL), Pubmed, Embase and foreign military official recruitment website information.Results Twenty-three papers were cited, and seven charts were drawn. Research showed that the top five mental disorders among the Chinese military flight personnel were mood disorder (28.47％), adjustment disorder (26.49％), neurosis (21.29％), anxiety (14.60％) and somatoform disorders (4.70％). However, in the U.S. Air Force, the top five mental disorders were mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, etc.) (27.87％), adjustment disorder (23.72％), alcohol abuse (20.42％), anxiety (13.92％), and attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder (5.00％). The top five neurological diseases recorded in Chinese military flight personnel were headache (38.66％), acceleration intolerance (25.15％), syncope (16.49％), autonomic nerve dysfunction (10.93％) and sleep disorders (3.61％), and in the USAF, headache (42.48％) ranked first, followed by trauma brain injury (27.71％), sleep disorders (16.78％), syncope (7.52％) and meningitis and encephalitis (1.99％). Conclusion There were significant similarities in disease ranking between PLAAF and USAF except for alcohol abuse. The total number of patients with the top five diseases made up more than 90％ in both groups. This finding shows common occupational characteristics in flight personnel of PLAAF and USAF, and proves that these diseases have little to do with nationality or race.