• Tanya M Goodman, Rachael N Martinez, Nicole L Giarrusso, Christopher Thompson, and William R Hoffman.
• LLC, NeuroStat Analytical Solutions, Great Falls, VA 22066, USA.
• Mil Med. 2024 Nov 5; 189 (11-12): e2665e2672e2665-e2672.

IntroductionThe reality of pilot health care avoidance behavior is often common knowledge to both pilots and aeromedical physicians, but the underlying factors leading to this behavior are less understood. In the current study, we conducted a qualitative assessment of a sample of U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilots to gather firsthand perceptions of the factors that encourage and discourage disclosure during aeromedical screening and use of mental and physical health care services, as well as recommendations to improve the USAF aeromedical health care system.Materials And MethodsWe conducted interviews with 21 USAF pilots on their perceptions of seeking medical care to identify factors that uniquely discourage or encourage disclosure and health care utilization to understand factors that aid the aeromedical provider/aviator relationship and to elicit interventions that could be prospectively researched. This work was reviewed by the Air Force Research Laboratory Institutional Review Board at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and designated as exempt research, FWR20220103E.ResultsThe most reported factors that discourage military pilot health care disclosure and health care utilization overall were medical revocation, stigma, and lack of trust in providers. Unit-embedded services, ease of access, and severity of condition were the most reported factors encouraging disclosure and utilization. Factor descriptions and exemplary quotes from pilots and pilot recommendations to encourage health care utilization and disclosure are provided.ConclusionsResults from firsthand interviews with pilots provide valuable information for flight surgeons to focus on building trust with their pilots to reduce health care avoidance.Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

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