Erdinc Ercan, Abdurrahman Engin Demir, Ecem Dak

Effects of smoking on pulmonary functions in aviation personnel

Aviation personnel, who are required to be healthy enough to tolerate the flight conditions in which airline transportation is carried out, and who are subjected to comprehensive examinations for this purpose, should stay away from the habits that will adversely affect their health. One of these habits is smoking. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of smoking on pulmonary functions of aviation personnel. Demographic data and PFT values of the patients were analyzed retrospectively in the Aero-Medical Center. Of the 69 people included in the study, 28 (40.6%) were female and 41 (59.4%) were male. 26 of the males (63.4%) and 4 (14.3%) of the females applied for pilot medical examinations, while 24 (85.7%) of the females and 15 (36.6%) of the males applied for cabin crew medical examinations. The smoking rate was found to be 24.4% (n=10) for males and 17.9% (n=5) for females. Among females, mean values of FEV1, FEV1/ FVC, PEF and MEF25-75 in smokers were found to be lower than non-smokers. The discrete effects of smoking status and gender on the changes of FEV1 / FVC mean values were found to be statistically significant (p

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