Back muscle EMG of helicopter pilots in flight: effects of fatigue, vibration, and posture.

INTRODUCTION The high prevalence of low back pain in helicopter pilots has been attributed to back muscle fatigue due to a pilot's required posture and/or aircraft vibration. This study investigated the effect of posture and vibration on the surface electromyogram (EMG) of right and left erector spinae (ES) muscles of pilots and evaluated ES fatigue during flight. METHODS There were 12 male pilots who were monitored during helicopter flights lasting an average of 2 h. Prior to the flight, a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of ES was performed and the EMG was recorded. Vibration was measured at the pilot's seat through a triaxial accelerometer. The effect of posture on EMG was tested by comparing four characteristics of left and right EMG expressed as % MVC. Effect of Z vibration on EMG was investigated by coherence function and through correlation between coherently averaged EMG and Z for the frequencies of the main rotor of the helicopter (1R) and its first harmonic (2R). Fatigue was investigated through median frequencies (MF) of the EMG power spectra. RESULTS No effect of posture on EMG was found for any parameter (p > 0.05). Data from one pilot suggested an effect of 1R on EMG, but statistical tests revealed this not to be significant (p > 0.05) for any pilot. No fatigue was evidenced by linear regression of MF. CONCLUSION While the scientific literature contains the hypothesis that low back pain in helicopter pilots is mainly due to muscle fatigue caused by posture and/or vibration, the present study did not lend support to this hypothesis.