Cabin Altitude and Barotraumatic Otitis in Commercial Aircrew.

Cohort studyAerospace medicine and human performance· Feb 2026

Cabin Altitude and Barotraumatic Otitis in Commercial Aircrew.

Pietro Scaramuzzo, Marie-Andrée Comesse, Michel Klerlein

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Aerospace MedicineCohort studyClinical practiceQ4IF 0.6

Cabin altitude not linked to sick-leave duration after barotraumatic otitis in aircrew.

Cabin Altitude and Barotraumatic Otitis in Commercial Aircrew.

Pietro Scaramuzzo … Michel Klerlein

Aerospace medicine and human performance · Feb 2026 · Q4 in Public Health

Background

Whether the lower cabin pressure altitude used by modern long-haul aircraft shortens recovery after barotraumatic otitis (barotraumatic otitis) remains uncertain.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of 4271 barotraumatic otitis episodes among Air France pilots and cabin crew (2015-2024).

n = 4271 BO episodes

Results

cabin altitude made no real difference to sick-leave length after this ear injury

ratio 1.02 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.14)

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Across episodes, 8010 workdays were lost, with a right-skewed distribution (median 1-2 d; mean ≈ 5.5 d).

Male sex was associated with shorter absences (about -2.5 d; 95% confidence interval -4.6 to -0.5), and pilots with longer absences than cabin crew (about +9.4 d; 95% confidence interval +0.5 to +18.2).

More results

Findings for barotraumatic otitis were stable over time.

Individual factors (e.g., sex and crew function) appeared more influential.

“

Conclusion

Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2026; 97(2):100-105.

Cabin Altitude and Barotraumatic Otitis in Commercial Aircrew.

Cabin Altitude and Barotraumatic Otitis in Commercial Aircrew.

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