Chest
Original ResearchAir TravelAir Travel Hypoxemia vs the Hypoxia Inhalation Test in Passengers With COPD
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Thirteen subjects (seven female subjects) with documented COPD volunteered for this study. Subjects who were embarking on air travel on their own accord were recruited from the respiratory clinic at Christchurch Hospital. The Upper South B Regional Ethics Committee approved the study, and written informed consent was obtained for all subjects. The study included the following three phases: (1) preflight respiratory function testing; (2) in-flight physiologic measures; and (3) postflight HIT and
Results
Table 1shows the group demographics and respiratory function parameters. The FEV1/FVC ratio and the FEV1 were below the lower limit of normal for all participants.
The cabin environment is summarized in Table 2. In-flight data were recorded on six commercial carriers and four types of aircraft. Flight times ranged from 1 to 11 h, and included both domestic and international sectors. There was variability in the cruise altitude cabin pressure (Table 2). The mean time from takeoff to cruise
Discussion
In the present study, the in-flight oxygen response was compared to the HIT in 13 passengers with COPD. Air travel caused significant desaturation, which was worsened by activity. The HIT Spo2 was comparable with the mean flight Spo2. Despite significant in-flight oxygen desaturation, there were no adverse events reported. The HIT Spo2 showed the strongest correlation with the mean in-flight Spo2.
The HIT is a practical laboratory assessment for predicting air-travel hypoxemia in patients with
References (26)
- et al.
Air travel hypoxemia with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Ann Intern Med
(1984) - et al.
Hypoxaemia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients during a commercial flight
Eur Respir J
(2005) Medical guidelines for air travel 2nd ed
Aviat Space Environ Med
(2003)Managing passengers with respiratory disease planning air travel: British Thoracic Society recommendations
Thorax
(2002)Code of Federal Regulations. Title 14, part 25.841
(1986)Prediction of barometric pressures at high altitudes with the use of model atmospheres
J Appl Physiol
(1996)- et al.
- et al.
The preflight evaluation: a comparison of the hypoxia inhalation test with hypobaric exposure
Chest
(1995) - et al.
Is normobaric simulation of hypobaric hypoxia accurate in chronic airflow limitation?
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
(1995) - et al.
Commentary: pulse oximetry during air travel
Aviat Space Environ Med
(2007)
Effect of simulated commercial flight on oxygenation in patients with interstitial lung disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Thorax
Normobaric hypoxia inhalation test vs. response to airline flight in healthy passengers
Aviat Space Environ Med
Directly measured cabin pressure conditions during Boeing 747–400 commercial aircraft flights
Respirology
Cited by (44)
Assessing Patients for Air Travel
2021, ChestImpact of hypobaric flight simulation on walking distance and oxygenation in COPD patients
2019, Respiratory Physiology and NeurobiologyCitation Excerpt :The hypoxia altitude simulation test (HAST) which was first described in 1984 (Gong et al., 1984) is recommended to evaluate the fitness to fly (Edvardsen et al., 2012). The test consists of a 20-min challenge to 15.1% of inspired oxygen, which is equivalent to the amount of oxygen of usual air oxygen at 2438 m above NN (Kelly et al., 2008). If oxygen saturation decreases to less than 85%, patients are advised to use in-flight (Dillard et al., 1998) oxygen delivery systems (Johnson, 2003).
Effects of Tibetan turnip (Brassica rapa L.) on promoting hypoxia-tolerance in healthy humans
2017, Journal of EthnopharmacologyCOPD: Clinical Diagnosis and Management
2015, Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine: Volume 1,2, Sixth EditionThe prediction of in-flight hypoxaemia using non-linear equations
2013, Respiratory Medicine
This research was conducted independent of any organizations that may in any way gain or lose from the publication of these results. All of the authors have stated they have no conflicts of interest and are agreeable to have these results published.
This research was supported by a grant from the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago.