Survey on the sleep quality rated by Pittsburgh sleep quality index in civil aviation pilots

Objective To investigate the sleep quality of civil aviation pilots and provide reference and basis for ensuring the sleep health of pilots. Methods A cross-sectional cluster sampling questionnaire was used. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scale and self-made questionnaires were used to investigate and evaluate the sleep status of the active pilots of an airline company. Each component of PSQI was scored by 0, 1, 2, or 3 points, and the cumulative score of 7 components was the total score of PSQI. If a PSQI component was scored as 2 or 3 points it would indicate a poor or very poor quality of the component. PSQI >7 meant poor sleep quality, and PSQI ≤7 meant good sleep quality. Results The average score of pilots′ PSQI was 8.09 ± 3.47. The mean scores of PSQI component were 1.53±0.80 for sleep quality, 1.45±0.93 for time to fall asleep, 1.39±0.97 for sleep time, 0.38±0.73 for sleep efficiency, 1.22±0.58 for sleep disorder, 0.11±0.47 for hypnotic drug, and 2.00±1.06 for daytime dysfunction. The distribution by frequency that for the PSQI component ≥2 was daytime dysfunction (66.2%), sleep quality (52.9%), sleep time (48.8%) and time to fall asleep (48.5%) respectively. 55.6% of civil aviation pilots showed sleep quality problems. Conclusions The sleep quality problem of civil aviation pilots is serious and should be highly concerned and actively intervened. Key words: Sleep; Sleep disorders; Questionnaires; Pittsburgh sleep quality index; Civil aviation pilots