These results suggest that most individuals with well-controlled medical conditions can withstand acceleration forces of launch and re-entry profiles of current commercial spaceflight vehicles.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether our review of systems (ROS) form facilitates identification of sleep complaints; (2) how frequently department physicians investigate these sleep complaints; (3) the prevalence of our family practice patients at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); and (4) how well ROS responses function as diagnostic tests to identify OSA risk.Methods: We used a prospectively collected sample of consecutive adult patients undergoing preventive examinations at 2 family medicine clinics. Patients completed ROS forms and the Berlin Questionnaire to determine OSA risk level. Physicians at only one site used ROS forms during care.Results: Two hundred forty-nine of 382 eligible patients (65%) completed forms and underwent examinations. Thirty-seven percent responded positively to sleep-related ROS questions. Physicians documented 24% of those complaints. ROS form use affected documentation (31% with use vs 5% without; P ؍ .03). Thirty-three percent of all patients had increased OSA risk. Fifty-seven percent of high-risk patients responded affirmatively to an ROS question as opposed to 27% for those at lower risk (P < .001). ROS responses were 57% sensitive and 73% specific for increased OSA risk.Conclusions: Sleep symptoms were common and were recognized significantly more often when our physicians used a ROS form. However, few complaints were investigated.
Training programs appear best when high fidelity and sequential exposures may improve tolerance of physical/psychological flight stressors. The studied variables did not predict anxiety-related responses to these centrifuge profiles.Blue RS, Bonato F, Seaton K, Bubka A, Vardiman JL, Mathers C, Castleberry TL, Vanderploeg JM. The effects of training on anxiety and task performance in simulated suborbital spaceflight. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(7):641-650.
Dysrhythmias in laypersons undergoing simulated suborbital spaceflight were well tolerated, though RB was frequently noted during short-duration +Gx exposure. No subjects demonstrated associated symptoms or objective hemodynamic sequelae from these events. Even so, heightened caution remains warranted when monitoring dysrhythmias in laypersons with significant cardiopulmonary disease or taking medications that modulate cardiac conduction.Suresh R, Blue RS, Mathers CH, Castleberry TL, Vanderploeg JM. Dysrhythmias in laypersons during centrifuge-stimulated suborbital spaceflight. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(11):1008-1015.
The screening methods used were judged to be sufficient to identify individuals physically capable of tolerating simulated suborbital flight. Improved methods will be needed to identify susceptibility to anxiety reactions. While severe or uncontrolled disease was excluded, many subjects successfully participated in centrifuge trials despite medical histories of disease that are disqualifying under historical spaceflight screening regimes. Such screening techniques are applicable for use in future commercial spaceflight operations.
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