Socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with abnormal excessive daytime sleepiness in Norwegian military search and rescue helicopter personnel

Socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with abnormal excessive daytime sleepiness in Norwegian military search and rescue helicopter personnel Rokshana Akter1, Tricia L Larose2, Jannicke Sandvik3, Anders Meland4, Vivianne Fonne5, Anthony Wagstaff6 1Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo; 2Norwegian Armed Forces Institute of Aviation Medicine, University of Oslo; 3Norwegian Armed Forces Institute of Aviation Medicine, 4Norwegian Armed Forces Institute of Aviation Medicine, 5Norwegian Armed Forces Institute of Aviation Medicine, 6Norwegian Armed Forces Institute of Aviation Medicine, University of Oslo. BACKGROUND: Abnormal excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) has been reported worldwide, but too little is known about EDS and its determinants in Search and Rescue (SAR) populations. We aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal EDS and contributing factors among Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) SAR helicopter personnel. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of n=175 RNoAF SAR personnel completed an electronic survey including socio-demographic and lifestyle questions. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used as both a continuous and categorical outcome variable to measure EDS. RESULTS: Abnormal EDS defined by ESS was found in 41% of the participants in this study. We observed no associations between socio-demographic and lifestyle factors and abnormal EDS in this study. Abnormal EDS was not associated with any socio-demographic or lifestyle factors in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal excessive daytime sleepiness is common among RNoAF SAR population. Socio-demographic and lifestyle factors are not associated with abnormal excessive daytime sleepiness in this population. KEYWORDS: Excessive daytime sleepiness, Socio-demographic & Lifestyle factors, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Search and Rescue, Aviation, military