REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OUTCOMES AMONG FEMALE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

Recent studies have suggested that female flight attendants may experi ence increased rates of spontaneous abortion. We conducted a survey of female flight attendants who were pregnant at any time between Januar y 1, 1990, and December 31, 1991 (n = 418) using a mailed self-adminis tered interest survey (response rate, 60%) and follow-up questionnaire regarding reproductive outcomes and potential risk factors for advers e outcomes (response rate, 64%). The cumulative hazard of spontaneous abortion was 17% when maternal age, smoking, alcohol use, and prior sp ontaneous abortions were controlled for, using a Cox life-table regres sion model. Of the female flight attendants who worked outside the hom e, 47 of 321 (15%) experienced a spontaneous abortion, compared with 6 of 73 (8%) who did not work outside the home during the pregnancy per iod (odds ratio [OR] = 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CIT] = 0.78-4.66 ). night attendants who experienced a spontaneous abortion during thei r first pregnancy during the study period reported working significant ly more flight hours per month during their pregnancy (74 hours per mo nth) than did flight attendants who delivered a live birth (64 hours p er month) (Student's t = -3.30, It = 0.002). We conclude that although the results of this study must be considered preliminary because of t he relatively low overall response rate (38%) we did not find an overa ll increased risk for spontaneous abortion among flight attendants, co mpared with other working women (10%-20%). Women who continue working as flight attendants during pregnancy and those who work relatively hi gher numbers of flight hours during pregnancy may, however, be at incr eased risk for spontaneous abortion, compared with flight attendants w ho do not perform such work.