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Analysis shows no long-term decline in pulmonary function for military pilots, indicating flight hours may not adversely affect health.
Pulmonary abnormalities rarely led to unfit declarations and no evidence was found for a negative long-term effect of military flying on pulmonary function. Age and smoking status were significant predictors of FEV1/FVC decline. These findings may inform future refinement of pulmonary assessment protocols for military pilots. Konings M, Wiekenkamp AC, Wingelaar-Jagt YQ, Wingelaar TT. Evaluating the impact of flight hours on pulmonary function in military pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2025; 96(12):1079-1083.
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Konings et al. (2025) studied this question.
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