Zehra ÖZDİL ARIKAN, Dijan ERTEMİR, Cahit KESKİNKILIÇ

A Norm Study of a Neuropsychological Test Battery for Evaluating Cognitive Functions in Commercial Airline Pilots

Objective: This study aims to establish a norm for Turkish commercial airline pilots with a neuropsychological test battery that has been prepared specifically for pilots. The test battery assesses all of the attention components that are critical for piloting: working memory, information processing rate, mental flexibility, reaction time, set switching, inhibiting cognitive interference, several parameters of short/long term visual memory, and spatial comprehension. Method: The study included 147 healthy commercial airline pilots, of whom 144 were men and 3 women. The participants were divided into four age groups: 20-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, and 50 years and above. They were given the following tests: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) Digit Span, Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT), Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Reaction Time Test (RTT), d2 Test of Attention (d2TA), Stroop Test (ST), Trail Making Test (TMT), Visual Elevator Test (VET), and Judgement of Line Orientation Test (JLO). Results: There was a relation between age and military vs. civilian background, type of bachelor’s degree, and flight experience, but no relation was found between age and hand dominance. It was found that there was a significant difference in all test scores between age groups except for CPT scores, d2 Test percentage of errors and total number of errors, ST 1 st , 2 nd , 5 th card self-corrections and 3 rd card errors, TMT A and B Form errors, and VET switching numbers. Conclusion: It was concluded that commercial airline pilots’ neuropsychological test scores differ according to age but not by hand dominance. The importance of pilot norms and the necessity of comparing pilots according to professional norms was highlighted in the discussion.

Ticari havayolu pilotlarında bilişsel işlevleri değerlendirmek için oluşturulmuş bir nöropsikolojik test bataryası norm çalışması

Amaç: Bu çalışmada pilotlara özgü bir nöropsikolojik test bataryası hazırlanarak, batarya dahilindeki testlerin ticari havayolu şirketlerindeki Türk pilotlar için normlarını oluşturmak amaçlanmıştır. Test bataryası pilotaj için önemli olan; dikkatin tüm bileşenlerini, çalışma belleğini, bilgi işlemleme hızını, zihinsel esnekliği, reaksiyon zamanını, set değiştirebilmeyi, uygunsuz cevap eğilimini bastırabilmeyi, kısa/ uzun süreli görsel belleğin çeşitli parametrelerini ve uzaysal algılama yetilerini değerlendirmektedir. Yöntem: Çalışmaya ticari bir havayolu şirketinde görev yapan 144’ü erkek, 3’ü kadın olmak üzere 147 pilot katılmıştır. Katılımcılar 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 ve 50 üstü olmak üzere dört yaş grubuna ayrılmıştır. Katılımcılara şu testler uygulanmıştır: WAIS-R Sayı Dizisi Testi, Rey Karmaşık Figür Testi (RKFT), Sürekli Performans Testi (SPT), PASAT Test, Tepki Süresi Testi (TST), d2 Dikkat Testi (d2DT), Stroop Testi (ST), İz Sürme Testi (İST), Asansör Testi (AT) ve Çizgilerin Yönünü Belirleme Testi (ÇYBT). Bulgular: Yaş ile asker-sivil kökenli olma, lisans eğitimi ve uçuş tecrübesi değişkenleri ilişkili bulunurken, el baskınlığı değişkeni ilişkili bulunmamıştır. Yaşa göre nöropsikolojik testler değerlendirildiğinde; SPT puanları, d2 Testi hata dağılımı ve hata toplamı, ST 1. 2. 5. kart düzeltme sayısı ve 3. kart hata sayısı, İST A ve B Formu hata sayısı ve AT değiştirme sayısı puanları dışında tüm test puanlarında anlamlı farklılık olduğu saptanmıştır. Sonuç: Ticari havayolu pilotlarındaki ortalama nöropsikolojik test puanlarının yaştan etkilendiği, el baskınlığına göre ise farklılık göstermediği tespit edilmiştir. Pilot normlarının önemi ve kendi meslek normlarına göre değerlendirilmesi gerekliliği tartışma bölümünde ele alınmıştır.

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