Article Contents
INTRODUCTION: Employees from any type of aviation services industry were asked to give their opinions about the usefulness of consumer sleep technologies (CSTs) during operations and their willingness to share data from CSTs with their organizations for fatigue risk management purposes under a variety of circumstances.
METHODS: Respondents provided information about position in aviation and use of CST devices. Respondents ranked sleep issues and feedback metrics by perceived level of importance to operational performance. Respondents rated their likelihood to share data with their organization under a series of hypothetical situations.
RESULTS: Between January-July 2023, 149 (N = 149) aviation professionals responded. Pilots comprised 72% (N = 108) of respondents; 84% (N = 125) of all respondents worked short- or medium-haul operations. “Nighttime operations” and “inconsistent sleep routines” ranked as the most important issues affecting sleep. “Sleep quality history” and “projected alertness levels” ranked as most important feedback metrics for personal management of fatigue. Respondents were split between CST users (N = 64) and nonusers (N = 68). CST users did not indicate a strong preference for a specific device brand. The most-reported reason for not using a CST was due to not owning one or no perceived need. Respondents indicated greater likelihood of data sharing under conditions where the device was provided to them by their organization.
DISCUSSION: These results suggest that aviation professionals are more concerned about schedule-related disturbances to sleep than they are about endogenous sleep problems. Organizations may be able to increase compliance to data collection for fatigue risk management by providing employees with company-owned CSTs of any brand.
Devine JK, Choynowski J, Hursh SR. Fatigue risk management preferences for consumer sleep technologies and data sharing in aviation. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2024; 95(5):265–272.
Flow chart of inclusion and exclusion criteria for survey respondents. High importance is in dark grey; medium importance is in medium grey.
Perceived importance of sleep issues and information about sleep. Mean rank order of responses regarding A) the level of importance of sleep issues to their ability to perform work tasks and B) the level of importance of information about sleep for personal sleep management. Items are listed on the y-axis by weighted rank, with number 1 corresponding to higher importance ranking. Bars depict the number of responses by level of importance (high importance is in dark grey; medium importance is in medium grey; and low importance is in light grey) for each item.
Consumer sleep technology (CST) usage among aviation professionals. A) Pie chart depicting the percentage of respondents who use a CST, individuals who do not use a CST, and no response. B) Pie chart depicting CST users’ reasons for using a CST by theme and percentage. C) Pie chart depicting CST nonusers’ reasons for not using a CST by theme and percentage.
Likelihood of providing data to organization across circumstances. Mean rank order of responses regarding respondents’ likelihood of sharing data with their organization based on the circumstances of data collection. Items are listed on the y-axis by weighted rank, with number 1 corresponding to greater likelihood. Bars depict the number of responses by likelihood (Not at All Likely in light grey, Somewhat Likely in medium grey, Very Likely in dark grey) for each item.
Contributor Notes