The Association between Airline Flight Time and Sinus Disease

Abstract

Objectives:

Airplane cabin supply air has been shown to have multiple possible respiratory irritants. In addition, changes in barometric pressure in flight may contribute to some respiratory conditions. Therefore, there may be an association between commercial airline flight and sinus disease.

Methods:

Participants of the Secondhand-Smoke, Air Quality and Respiratory Health Among Flight Attendants study cohort were mailed a questionnaire pertaining to their flight experience and respiratory health. Working years, working days per month, and number of trips per month were quantified, as well as smoking exposure history and self-reported physician diagnoses of sinusitis, asthma, and rhinitis. The sinonasal outcomes were quantified using a Respiratory Questionnaire Score (RQS). Multivariable analyses were performed to analyze the associations between flight time and sinus disease.

Results:

A total 579 participants met the inclusion criteria, with cohort prevalence of sinusitis, asthma, and rhinitis of 24.8, 13.1, and 20.4%, respectively. There was a significant trend of increasing odds ratios (OR) of sinusitis and rhinitis with increasing working years tertiles (P < .01 and P = .016, respectively). Increasing tertiles of working days per month were associated with higher RQS scores (P, trend <.01). Individual symptoms significantly associated with increasing number of working days per month included need to blow nose, sneezing, and thick nasal discharge, among others.

Conclusions:

This is the first study to analyze the relations between airline flight time and sinonasal disease. Sinusitis diagnosis, numerous sinonasal symptoms, and cumulative symptom scores were all shown to be significantly associated with flight time.