ArticleEnvironmental health : a global access science source2014
The self-reported health of U.S. flight attendants compared to the general population.
Article in Environmental health : a global access science source, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The impact of workplace sexual harassment on health and quality of life outcomes among flight attendants: a two-wave longitudinal study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- A Peripheral Mechanism of Depression: Disturbed Intestinal Epithelial Per2 Gene Expression Causes Depressive Behaviors in Mice with Circadian Rhythm Disruption via Gut Barrier Damage and Microbiota Dysbiosis.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Cosmic Ionizing Radiation: A DNA Damaging Agent That May Underly Excess Cancer in Flight Crews.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Dietary Rhythmicity and Mental Health Among Airline Personnel.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Review
- Challenges and support needs in psychological and physical health among pilots: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Return of a flight attendant to full duty following myocardial infarction and subsequent coronary artery bypass grafting through a high-intensity occupation-specific cardiovascular rehabilitation program.Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) · 2024Article
- Health consequences of exposure to aircraft contaminated air and fume events: a narrative review and medical protocol for the investigation of exposed aircrew and passengers.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2023Article
- Fatigue and Sleep in Airline Cabin Crew: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Associations of suffering with facets of health and well-being among working adults: longitudinal evidence from two samples.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Elastin Degradation and Lung Function Deterioration with Remote Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Never-smokers.Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.) · 2022Article
- Understanding the Complexities and Changes of the Astronaut Microbiome for Successful Long-Duration Space Missions.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Cancer risks from cosmic radiation exposure in flight: A review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Examining an Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Hyperuricemia in Chinese Flight Attendants.Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Are depression and suffering distinct? An empirical analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Flight attendant occupational nutrition and lifestyle factors associated with COVID-19 incidence.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Health Risks and Potential Predictors of Fatigue and Sleepiness in Airline Cabin Crew.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFew studies have examined the broad health effects of occupational exposures in flight attendants apart from disease-specific morbidity and mortality studies. We describe the health status of flight attendants and compare it to the U.S. population. In addition, we explore whether the prevalence of major health conditions in flight attendants is associated with length of exposure to the aircraft environment using job tenure as a proxy.
methodsWe surveyed flight attendants from two domestic U.S. airlines in 2007 and compared the prevalence of their health conditions to contemporaneous cohorts in the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), 2005-2006 and 2007-2008. We weighted the prevalence of flight attendant conditions to match the age distribution in the NHANES and compared the two populations stratified by gender using the Standardized Prevalence Ratio (SPR). For leading health conditions in flight attendants, we analyzed the association between job tenure and health outcomes in logistic regression models.
resultsCompared to the NHANES population (n =5,713), flight attendants (n = 4,011) had about a 3-fold increase in the age-adjusted prevalence of chronic bronchitis despite considerably lower levels of smoking. In addition, the prevalence of cardiac disease in female flight attendants was 3.5 times greater than the general population while their prevalence of hypertension and being overweight was significantly lower. Flight attendants reported 2 to 5.7 times more sleep disorders, depression, and fatigue, than the general population. Female flight attendants reported 34% more reproductive cancers. Health conditions that increased with longer job tenure as a flight attendant were chronic bronchitis, heart disease in females, skin cancer, hearing loss, depression and anxiety, even after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), education, and smoking.
conclusionsThis study found higher rates of specific diseases in flight attendants than the general population. Longer tenure appears to explain some of the higher disease prevalence. Conclusions are limited by the cross-sectional design and recall bias. Further study is needed to determine the source of risk and to elucidate specific exposure-disease relationships over time.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.