Messung der Leistungsfähigkeit mit der AGARD-STRES-Battery nach partiellem Schlafentzug im Vergleich zu Alkohol und Hypoxie
The DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine evaluated pilots’ sleep pattern on long-haul flights. Several field studies revealed a shortened sleep duration, which was one part, caused by crossing time zones and the consequent jet-lag the other by short and unfavorable layover times. Similar field studies were carried out on helicopter pilots occupied in air ambulance services. They showed significantly shorter sleep durations during the days of work than in leisure time. However short sleep duration can influence the alertness and performance of the air crew and thus lead to a risk for flight safety. There is therefore a need for an adaption to the requirements of the crew, with the aim of preventing sleep disorders and the resulting loss of performance. The present study examined to what extent a shortened sleep duration for several days has an impact on the performance. Under laboratory conditions trial participants experienced four consecutive days of partial sleep deprivation (sleep duration of 5 h) as a parameter influencing the performance compared with the effect of hypoxia and alcohol as stressors. The measurement of performance was carried out with computerized testing, as the AGARD-STRES-Battery (AGARD Standardized Tests for Research with Environmental Stressors Battery) published by a NATO committee. As results the unstable tracking (UTT) and the simple reaction task (SRT) proved to be particularly sensitive in contrast to grammatical reasoning (GRT) and the memory search (MST) tasks. For different stressors the task, which is the strongest indicator of the effect on performance, could be determined. Compared to the base line performance under normal conditions the effect of oxygen deficiency (11.5% O2) was 41% in UTT and 9% in the SRT, alcohol (0.7‰) contributed to a decline of 29% in UTT and 17% in the SRT, and three nights of sleep deprivation lead to a loss of 21% in UTT and 9% in the SRT. As a simple rule it can be stated that three days of sleep deprivation, or hypoxia 12% O2 induced a performance reduction similar 0.5‰ alcohol. Results from the experimental design of this study can be transferred in addition to aviation-related questions to other transport modes and the shift work.
info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/610, Schlafforschung, Leistungsmessung, Blutalkohol, Hypoxie, Luftfahrtmedizin, Medizin, AGARD-STRES-Battery, partielle Schlafdeprivation, Flugmedizin, performance, sleepdeprivation, sleep research, aeromedicine
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