Injury History And Constellation Burnout In Naval Helicopter Aircrew

Naval helicopter aircrew face a range of physical challenges that are unique to their mission, including, but not limited to, search and rescue, airborne mine countermeasure, and anti-surface warfare. Prolonged exposure to aircraft vibration and heavy/strenuous lifting in poor ergonomic spaces renders them prone to musculoskeletal injuries, which can affect other aspects of operational health, such as stress, exhaustion, and sleep disruption. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between injury history and constellation burnout symptoms in MH-60S Seahawk helicopter aircrew. METHODS: Active duty aircrewmen from Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Pacific (116 male and 1 female) participated in a cross-sectional study by completing a survey of self-reported measures. While controlling for age and combat deployments, multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to explore the influence of injury frequency during the military career on constellation burnout symptoms (occupational stress, exhaustion, and sleep disruption). The significance level was set to .05 for all statistical tests. RESULTS: Data are presented as means ± standard deviations. The average age and number of combat deployments of the study sample were 28.5 ± 7.4 years and 0.7 ± 1.2, respectively. The independent variable was injury frequency (3.0 ± 3.4). The dependent variables were occupational stress (8.9 ± 2.7), Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey exhaustion subscale score (17.4 ± 8.2), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score (8.46 ± 4.10). For every additional injury, the occupational stress score (4-16) increased by .269 units (p = .002), F(3,113) = 11.378, p < .001, R2adj = .212; the exhaustion subscale score (0-30) increased by .988 units (p < .001), F(3,113) = 6.500, p < .001, R2adj = .125; and the sleep disruption scale (0-21) increased by .490 units (p < .001), F(3,108) = 15.693, p < .001, R2adj = .284. CONCLUSIONS: Results from our study reveal that with every additional injury that a person endorsed in their health history, there was an increase in symptoms of constellation burnout, such as occupational stress, exhaustion, and sleep disruption. These findings can be used to inform programs for injury rehabilitation and the management of burnout symptoms to support operational health across the military career. Supported by: This work was supported by the Defense Health Agency under work unit no. 62362.